BREAKING NEWS: Kids have been bullied & are liars!

[Direckshun]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20070413...ebulliedsurvey

90% of Elementary School Kids Are Bullied: Survey
By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, April 13 (HealthDay News) -- Nine out of 10 elementary school kids have been subjected to physical or psychological bullying by their peers, while six in 10 have been bullies themselves, according to a new study.

"The results show that even going down to young ages, we have very high levels of bullying and victimization," said study lead author Dr. Thomas P. Tarshis, who conducted the research while with the division of child and adolescent psychiatry at Stanford University Medical Center.

Citing the lack of a fast and insightful way to gauge elementary school bullying, Tarshis first teamed with Stanford colleague Dr. Lynne C. Huffman to design a new and simple questionnaire that could be completed by children quickly and reliably.

The survey was restricted to a single page of multiple-choice questions aimed at a third-grade reading level and was designed to be completed in a classroom setting within five to 10 minutes. The children were asked 22 questions describing one of two bullying scenarios -- "direct" bullying involving physical violence or the threat of harm and "indirect" bullying involving social ostracizing, teasing, giving "looks" or spreading rumors.

With funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health, Tarshis and Huffman administered the questionnaire in 2004 to 95 boys and girls attending fourth through sixth grades at two California elementary schools and 175 students attending third through fourth grade in one school in Arizona. The schools from which the kids were drawn were approximately 60 percent white, 20 percent Hispanic and 6 percent African-American.

Of the nine out of 10 students who indicated they had been a victim of bullying at some point, most said they had been subjected to several types of bullying at least "sometimes" -- a finding the researchers defined as a "high level" of victimization.

The percentage of children who said they had been bullies themselves did not vary significantly between grades. By contrast, fewer fifth graders said they had been a victim of bullying, compared to children in the other grades.

The findings are published in the April issue of the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.

Tarshis, who is now director of the Bay Area Children's Association in Cupertino, Calif., and Huffman suggested that the new test seems to be a useful and easy-to-administer tool to help educators get a quick handle on the degree of bullying going on in schools. It can also be used to spark discussion among students on what appears to be a widespread problem, the researchers said.

"We need to shift the mindset that being bullied in school is OK, because we know that kids who are victimized and bullied have poor outcomes in the future," he said. "And, in reality, it's affecting a majority of kids in our schools."

"So, we need to increase awareness, and parents need to talk to their kids about what's going on in school," Tarshis said. "Children and their peers, teachers and school staff, and parents and guardians, all need to be involved."

But Dr. Christopher Lucas, associate professor of psychiatry at New York University's Child Study Center and director of its Early Childhood Service, thinks the problem of bullying may not be quite so pervasive as the new survey suggests.

"I'm very skeptical about nine out of ten," said Lucas. "That number is huge. But you have to keep in mind that when little kids self-report, there tends to be a lot of over-reporting. And my suspicion is that they may well be including behaviors that wouldn't be regarded by most people as bullying in terms of either frequency or intensity."

Lucas' own research suggests considerably lower levels of bullying -- along the lines of 50 percent saying they've been bullied and 15 percent saying they've bullied themselves.

But he agreed that bullying is a widespread problem that needs serious attention.

"New ways of bullying -- not always violent -- are constantly developing, such as the name-calling and insulting that's happening now on social networking sites like 'Facebook' and 'Myspace.com,' " he said. "And there are a lot of negative consequences for all kinds of bullying. It's one of the most common forms of stress among young people, and people who are bullied have more physical illness, more school absence, lower academic achievement, and are more likely to become bullies themselves over time. So, yes, it's serious."

[ChiefaRoo]

In other news. The sky is blue .

[trndobrd]

It's just not fair. Kids shouldn't be bullied in school and have to deal with those kind of issues in grade school. They should wait until they are adults and on their own with no social skills to deal with bullies.

[Mr. Kotter]

Define "bullied" and define "liars"....in the context of normal childhood development.

It's been going on for centuries.

[KcMizzou]

What, nobody knows Ric Romero?

[The Franchise]

I didn't consider it being bullied.....I considered it character building.

[RealSNR]

We need to get more kids on the internet at a younger age to toughen them up.

[luv]

Originally Posted by Simplex3

We need to get a solid definition of "bullying". Methinks "Hey Jill, those shoes look stupid" is qualifying in this study.

I always thought bullying was more about being intimidating than insulting someone.

[Thig Lyfe]

Majority Of Parents Abuse Children, Children Report
LOS ANGELES—A chilling national poll of U.S. children ages 3 through 12 estimated that nearly 75 million youngsters suffer both physical and psychological abuse at the hands of their parents on a daily basis.
Enlarge Image Majority Of Children

An abused child awaits her single allotted hour of television per day.

The poll, whose findings are part of a 700-page report released Tuesday by a coalition of child abuse monitoring and prevention organizations, indicts nearly 95 percent of American parents. It documents abuses ranging from less severe offenses, such as children being denied snacks just before dinner, to more egregious, long-term cases of neglect, such as never ever getting what they want, ever.

"My parents always tell me that I have to finish all my math homework or I won't be allowed to watch TV," said study participant and abuse victim "Derek," 10, who told researchers that some of his earliest memories were of this kind of mistreatment. "They're so mean. I hate them."

"I hate them, I hate them, I hate them," he added.

Encouraged to speak freely and confidentially about their home lives, subjects shocked even seasoned child welfare advocates with tales of systematic deprival and gratuitous cruelty. One Illinois boy told of being forced to linger with his mother in fabric stores and later leaving a Toys "R" Us empty-handed, even though the store sold a water gun he really wanted. An Arkansas 9-year-old said he spent all of third grade carrying a boring brown backpack instead of a super-cool Spider-Man one like a friend, whose parents love him, had. And a 6-year-old girl from Wisconsin was forced to sit at a dining room table for nearly two hours until she finished her canned green beans, a food widely considered by poll respondents to be disgusting and suitable only for adults.

"To hear the sadness in these kids' voices when they talk about how they are scared—literally scared—to bring home poor report cards, is heartbreaking," said Dr. Deirdre Fulton, child psychologist and director of the Nationwide Coalition to End Child Abuse, who co-authored the study. "Some of the children we interviewed even wished they were dead so their parents would feel guilty at their funerals."

"No child should ever wish to die," Fulton added.

According to pollsters, most victims were surprisingly open, even eager, to discuss their abuse, although some were less forthcoming about traumatic experiences that involved inappropriate touching.

"It's so embarrassing, and everybody sees it," said 7-year-old "Harry," whose mother hugs and kisses him goodbye in front of the school bus every day. "When it's happening, I close my eyes and wish it would stop, but it just goes on forever."

Other victims recounted similar forms of privacy invasion, such as being asked if they were wearing clean underwear, and being stripped naked and made to bathe, even after clearly stating that they did not need a bath.

Hair is another focus of unseemly pathological fixations, many children allege: Six out of 10 girls interviewed said that their mothers routinely and painfully pull, twist, and tug their hair into "stupid" hairstyles like pigtails, and some boys said that their mothers go so far as to use saliva to paste their hair into place.

According to the report, a shocking 100 percent of children who claimed to have been abused said their parents repeatedly answered "maybe" to a request, and then withheld from them a definitive answer for hours or, in some cases, days.

In addition to those who admitted to being touched inappropriately, 93 percent of children said they have, at one point or another, been subject to various types of physical abuse.

"My parents make me practice the piano for like 20 hours a day," said 8-year-old "Lacy," adding that sometimes she will hide in her closet to avoid rehearsal. "They told me if I hate it so much I can quit when I'm in seventh grade. That's like 40 years from now."

Some children, mostly boys, have even been pressed into brutal physical labor by their fathers, who demand their sons help them in the yard on Saturdays—one of only two days off for children who spend an average of 600 hours a week at school.

"He treats me like a slave," 12-year-old "Michael" said. "It's like it's my fault that my dad decided to buy a house with a lawn. And then when I do help, he says I shouldn't have had a bad attitude about it."

"Mom just sits there and lets the entire thing happen," "Michael" added.

In some of the more disturbing cases of abuse, parents reportedly take a domineering interest in their children's social lives, often threatening severe but undefined punishment for not being home by dark. Some children said their parents attempt to cut them off completely from the outside world, making many websites and television channels inaccessible and never letting them hang out with their friends.

The National Parents Association declined to comment on the overwhelming levels of abuse. When asked why they wouldn't comment, the NPA released a tersely worded statement: "Because we said so."

Link

[KcMizzou]

Originally Posted by luv

I always thought bullying was more about being intimidating than insulting someone.

They can easily go hand-in-hand.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by SNR

We need to get more kids on the internet at a younger age to toughen them up.

No shit, the internet toughened me up more than anything, guaranteed.

[Mr. Kotter]

Originally Posted by SportsRacer

Majority Of Parents Abuse Children, Children Report
LOS ANGELES—A chilling national poll of U.S. children ages 3 through 12 estimated that nearly 75 million youngsters suffer both physical and psychological abuse at the hands of their parents on a daily basis.
Enlarge Image Majority Of Children

An abused child awaits her single allotted hour of television per day.

The poll, whose findings are part of a 700-page report released Tuesday by a coalition of child abuse monitoring and prevention organizations, indicts nearly 95 percent of American parents. It documents abuses ranging from less severe offenses, such as children being denied snacks just before dinner, to more egregious, long-term cases of neglect, such as never ever getting what they want, ever...

Link

Unfuggin' believable.

My God....how we have become a nation of pussified whining politically correct sniveling panty waist losers.

Damn...."Dad yelled," "Mom didn't give me my snack," and "I was restricted to my room for 2 days." That is suddenly "abuse?" What a friggin' absolute and complete joke.

[luv]

Originally Posted by Mr. Kotter

Unfuggin' believable.

My God....how we have become a nation of pussified whining politically correct sniveling panty waist losers.

Damn...."Dad yelled," "Mom didn't give me my snack," and "I was restricted to my room for 2 days." That is suddenly "abuse?" What a friggin' absolute and complete joke.

It's you hippie parents. And Dr Spock.

[KcMizzou]

Originally Posted by Mr. Kotter

Unfuggin' believable.

My God....how we have become a nation of pussified whining politically correct sniveling panty waist losers.

Damn...."Dad yelled," "Mom didn't give me my snack," and "I was restricted to my room for 2 days." That is suddenly "abuse?" What a friggin' absolute and complete joke.

This is why parents are afraid to give their kids a good swat on the butt when they need it... and why kids learn to act out more in public than they would at home.

[007]

Originally Posted by Mr. Kotter

Unfuggin' believable.

My God....how we have become a nation of pussified whining politically correct sniveling panty waist losers.

Damn...."Dad yelled," "Mom didn't give me my snack," and "I was restricted to my room for 2 days." That is suddenly "abuse?" What a friggin' absolute and complete joke.

AFter reading that quote you pulled... Christ man, that is nuts. Todays parents want the schools to raise their children for them. Be tough. Be a Parent.

[Mr. Kotter]

Originally Posted by luv

It's you hippie parents. And Dr Spock.

I know it's hard to believe....but Dr. Spock is more like, memyselfi's generation....what a bunch of pothead stupid bastards.


NOTE: You may want to note it's from "The Onion..."

Heh....