New resources to combat bullying at school and online were showcased during the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) fourth Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention Summit—“Keeping Kids Safe: Opportunities and Challenges in Bullying Prevention”—Friday, Aug. 15.
Stopbullying.gov a project of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ED, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), features a growing number of resources to combat bullying including videos, a blog, and a list of existing state anti-bullying policies and laws.
SAMHSA premiered their new “KnowBullying” app which is available for iPhone® and Android™ smartphones. The free app, developed in collaboration with the Stopbullying.gov federal partnership, was created to help parents, caretakers, educators, and others prevent bullying and build resilience in children.
Also at the summit, the CDC released a new, universal definition of bullying as “any unwanted aggressive behavior(s) by another youth or group of youths who are not siblings or current dating partners that involves an observed or perceived power imbalance and is repeated multiple times or is highly likely to be repeated. Bullying may inflict harm or distress on the targeted youth including physical, psychological, social, or educational harm. A young person can be a perpetrator, a victim, or both (also known as ‘bully/victim’).”