October is National Bullying Prevention Month

This October, help raise awareness about National Bullying Prevention Month. According to the National Bullying Prevention Center, sponsored by the Pacer Center, physical, verbal, and cyber abuse are all forms of bullying. Data from kidsdata were recently used at the Stop Bullying Summit in San Francisco, hosted by U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, and San Francisco Superintendent of Schools Richard Carranza. The summit covered the effects of bullying on young people and their families, the role of government in creating a healthy and safe school climate, and how to engage the community in bullying prevention. Data from kidsdata.org shed light on this issue for California’s children and youth.

In 2008-2010, 42% of 7th graders in California reported being bullied or harassed at school within the past year. In this same time frame, 35% of 9th graders and 28% of 11th graders in California reported being bullied.

California youth are bullied for varying reasons. Data show that, in 2008-2010, 19% of 7th graders, 17% of 9th graders, and 14% of 11th graders in California reported being bullied based on their race. Within these two years, 8-12% of California 7th, 9th, and 11th graders reported being bullied due to their sexual orientation and 4-6% of students reported being bullied because of their disability.

If you, a family member, or someone you know is being subjected to bullying, seek help and/or notify authorities using these guidelines.

Posted by Lindsey Nguyen

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 16th, 2012 at 12:15 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.