Cobourg District Collegiate Institute West

What Are We About? Multi-media Presentation. West Students Speak Out Bullying Defined  How to Deal With Bullies What Other Students Have Said Related Sites

 
 

We are a group of senior students at Cobourg West that decided to get the real message out about bullying: that the ultimate escape from bullying is suicide.

Too many young people die because of bullying!
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    We have shared our message with hundreds of students
in the past year and plan on continuing to educate
students about the seriousness of bullying.

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WHY DO PEOPLE BULLY?.......WEST STUDENTS SPEAK OUT

  Because they might get power and strength from bullying others.
  As a way to seek popularity and get known at school.
  Because they are scared, they try to scare others to hide their feelings.
  Because they are unhappy and take it out on others.
  Because they are bullied themselves.
  Because they want to fit in.
 

WHAT BEING BULLIED FEELS LIKE?

People feel lots of things if they are being bullied, see bullying or bully others.
Here are the feelings often experienced by victims of bullying:

scared    depressed    sad     lonely     confused    worried    sick   alone  angry    mad    fed up    tired
hesitant  or even scared about going to school

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• shared personal stories
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Bullying is a common feature of every day life. We see it in the workplace, in the home and on the sports field, but most commonly, at school, where children learn as much about how to behave towards others as they do about their lessons in class. Unfortunately, some children learn only too well how to dominate others by foul means rather than by fair and sadly they begin to enjoy doing so, setting a pattern for how they will behave as adults. Meanwhile, other children, more easily dominated, suffer miserably, often in silence, and develop a victim mentality that they may be unable to shake off.

Bullying occurs when someone keeps doing or saying harmful things to have power over another person. Some of the ways they bully other people are by: calling them names, saying or writing nasty things about them, leaving them out of activities, ignoring them, threatening them, making them feel uncomfortable or scared, taking or damaging their things, hitting or kicking them, or making them do things they don't want to do.

WHAT ARE THE SHORT& LONG TERM EFFECTS OF BULLYING?  Bullying leads to numerous physical and psychological long and short-term effects. A victim can grow up to have numerous health problems such as anxiety, headaches, nausea, ulcers, sleeplessness, kidney complaints, skin rashes, irritable bowel syndrome, raised blood pressure, loss of confidence, tears, and suicide. The effects of bullying can last a lifetime. The long-term effects of bullying are…

Victims feel more isolated from their peers, which can lead to suicide   Victims often retaliate and become violent towards the bullies   60% of grades 7 and 8 male bullies become convicts by age 23    About 50% of all bullies become criminals

HOW TO DEAL WITH BULLIES

What can the victim do about his/her bully?
        Try confronting the bully and telling them how they are making you feel.

"What did I do to you?"
    In many situations ignoring has the best results. If the bully no longer gets a reaction out of you, he/she will usually move on.
        It is no longer any fun.

But what about the bully who is very abusive or violent?
        Make sure the school knows what is going on. Try to contact teachers, students, or administration to help resolve the issue.
            This type of bully should be avoided at all costs. Traveling to school in a group, and staying away from empty buildings
                    are other wise options.
 
 

WHAT STUDENTS ARE SAYING.....

"When you came to our school I didn't realize how much bullying can hurt people. You made me think about it."

      "Thank you for telling my kids in my school how much teasing hurts people. I cry sometimes it hurts so much but feel better now."
Grade 6 student

"After you left our class got into a really good talk about bullying. One kid even apologized for what he did. You really made a difference. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming to [my school.]"

Further Information Sites:
 

Bullying.org Bully Beware Anti-bullying Network Teachernet: Resources for teachers

CBC Documentary Dealing with Bullies: Safe Child Safe School Help Line Kids Help Phone Website

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