[profileleft]
[/profileleft]San Diego children’s rights lawyer Carlie Bouslaugh of Gomez Trial Attorneys recently wrote an extremely compelling article regarding the realities and legalities surrounding bullying, a societal problem that seems to get worse every day.
Anyone who wants to read this article simply needs to subscribe to our newsletter. Click this link and enter your email to begin receiving them. In furtherance of providing the public with that information, Carlie and the rest of the attorneys at the firm would like to provide some additional insight into this serious problem so that perhaps you can stop this from happening in the future.
Bullying Statistics
The statistics regarding bullying are staggering for anyone who takes even a brief look at them. See below:
- According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly 5.4 million students in the United States between 12 and 18 years old reported being bullied during the 2012-13 school year. That represents nearly 22 percent of all students of that age.
- The same report showed that more than 1.7 million students were cyber-bullied during that same academic year.
- In a different report from 2010, the Institute of Education Sciences found that nearly two-thirds of all students who were bullied in some fashion did not report it to the proper authorities.
- If those numbers are accurate, then it’s possible that as many as 15-16 million kids are bullied across the United States on an annual basis.
The Harm of Bullying
[profileleft]
[/profileleft]Bullying leads to several different types of long-term harm in those who suffer through it. As Carlie mentions in her article, many have asserted statistically that bullying increasingly leads to suicide by children. In general, approximately 4,400 young people commit suicide every year.
A study that was published in 2008 by the National Center for Biotechnology Information and completed by researchers from Yale concluded that young people who are bullied are between 7 and 9 percent more likely to consider suicide than those who are not. In addition, those who are bullied will face a potentially difficult emotional and perhaps physical recovery from injuries that were endured as a result of the actions of others.
Types of Bullying
Many of us who are older may simply remember bullying as ‘that kid’ on the playground who went around and took other kids’ lunch money. Things have changed significantly since then. That is particularly true when one looks at the advancement of the Internet and other types of technology. As of now, there are four specifically defined forms of bullying, including:
- Physical bullying
- Verbal bullying
- Relational bullying
- Cyber bullying
Each of these creates a need for people to recognize the signs of bullying and to seek the appropriate type of help.
Signs of Bullying
There are certain signs of bullying of young people that others should be mindful of and watch for in case something needs to be done. Some examples of these signs, according to StopBullying.gov, include:
- Unexplained injuries
- Lost or damaged clothes, electronics or other possessions
- Frequent “illnesses” so that the child can stay home from school
- Difficulty sleeping or nightmares
- Drop in grades or decreased appetite
- Sudden loss of friends
There are others, but people should generally trust their instincts. If they think something is wrong, it’s possible that something is quite wrong.
Contact a San Diego Children’s Rights Lawyer
If you think a young person is being bullied, you need to look into it. If you are really unsure of where to turn, you can always get the answers you need from a San Diego children’s rights lawyer. If you need to do something about this, contact Gomez Trial Attorneys today to schedule a free initial consultation.
