Recently, I shared how bullying affected me. How by fourteen its unrelenting cruelty made a forever sleep look like the only solution.
I know that many of you have suffered just as much or more and want to provide a forum to share your stories. If you were taunted, teased, pushed, called names, and lived in the shadows, please share.
Who knows, one of your stories just might help someone else feel a little less alone.
Let’s change these statistics.
According to the National Education Association, PACER Center, and StopBullying.gov:
• 1 in 7 students in grades K – 12 are either a bully or have been a victim of bullying.
• An estimated 160,000 U.S. children miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students.
• 83% of girls and 79% of boys report experiencing harassment.
• Six out of 10 teenagers say they witness bullying in school once a day.
• 35% of kids have been threatened online.
• Nearly 9 out of 10 LGBTQ youth report being verbally harassed at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation.
• 57% of boys and 43% of girls reported being bullied because of religious or cultural differences.
• Bullies often go on to perpetrate violence later in life: 40% of boys identified as bullies in grades 6 through 9 had three or more arrests by age 30.
• One out of every 10 students who drop out of school does so because of repeated incidents of bullying.
• 75% of shooting incidents at schools have been linked to bullying and harassment.
• 64% of children who were bullied did not report it.
• Nearly 70% of students think schools respond poorly to bullying.
• When bystanders intervene, bullying stops within 10 seconds 57% of the time.
A teacher, Laurie Woodward is the author of several novels including Forest Secrets, and the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles. She also cowrote Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy and was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes her novels on the Central Coast of California.