The hard way is to encounter the flood of media in which we are all immersed every day in this information age and have a perspective that makes the bullying-related stories evident. This means keeping in mind the dual characteristics that define bullying and distinguish it from the world of violence in which it is embedded: bullying involves negative acts by peers and imbalance of power. With that definitional clarity in mind, it is possible to spot bullying-related stories even when - as is exceedingly common - they are not headlined or labeled as such. In reading the New York Times or any newspaper each day, for example, there are many stories that one would not realize are about bullying without the definition in mind. One example is a story (in October '04, I believe) describing the plight of a man recently discharged from state prison. He had been subjected to sexual slavery, repeatedly assaulted and degraded, all occurring with the implicit and longstanding knowledge of the prison administrators who by any reasonable standard would be held accountable for the violent peer relations that typify prison life. "Negative acts by peers" and "imbalance of power" equal bullying, but the word is never mentioned in the story. Another example would be the many news stories about sexual assault of women. While it is important to call these acts by all of their names, including sexual assault, rape, etc., it is also important to note that many of these stories are characteristized by imbalance of power, pattern of negative acts, intent to harm, often in institutional settings as well, and are therefore also acts of bullying. Women assaulted in military academies (or even in the military) is such an example. The assaults occur in institutional settings with predominantly male populations (and leaders), incidents often involve multiple perpetrators and one victim, there is often a pattern of negative acts such as preceding sexual harassment if not other assaults. These acts are bullying, as well as being sexual assaults, rapes, sexual harassment. But the term bullying is almost never used.

The easier way to keep up with media coverage of bullying is to sign up for a news service such as Google's ("Google Alerts" ). The sign-up (free at the moment) delivers to your email a daily list of links to news stories (from all over the world) in which the word bullying appears. Predictably, the prison slavery story was not among the notices. But most other stories do appear. Note that the listing is very specific. That is, the daily email will only contain stories that have the specific word "bullying"; stories about hazing, for example, will not appear: that requires a separate Alert sign-up for that term.

3/26/08: Here is a front page NY Times article about bullying (specifically about a child in Arkansas) and letters published in response to the article, including one I wrote. It's very significant when the Times (or other major media) puts a bullying-related story, identified as such, on the front page. It's even better when, as in this case, the writer (Dan Barry) takes a sophisticated, supportive approach to the story. And it's even more significant, I think, when every letter published, "gets it," in terms of bullying, clearly supporting the bullied child and clearly placing responsibility for the child's situation on adults, including (and especially) the school the children involved attend. Unfortunately, one of the letter writers placed some blame on the parents. The writer's frustration with the child's continuing suffering is understandable, and taking a child out of a school in which they're repeatedly assaulted is definitely a recommended strategy, usually as a last resort. But the bullying of their child is a very difficult situation for parents as well, and there are many reasons a parent may not remove their child from the school, including economics and other available resources. However, all of the writers, no exception, take a strong, supportive attitude toward the child and have a sophisticated, evidence-based understanding of bullying. This has not always been the case - in fact it's the first time I've seen such a consistently helpful response in major media. Is a positive culture change in regard to bullying finally occurring? Anyway, see for yourself. Here is the article and the letters.

letters 3-26-08 NY Times Arkansas article NY Times 3-25-08

3/20/08: This may be a stretch, but ... It seems important to take note of a front page article in the Times (3/20/08) which suggests that the average percentage of students who finish high school in the U.S. is only 70% and significantly lower in some areas (higher in others also, of course). This is an abysmal track record. From an anti-bullying advocacy point of view, the implicit issue is the extent to which schools are taking care of all of their students. It is not much of a stretch - in terms of what we know about human psychology and functioning - to suggest that the extent to which students feel they belong, are cared about, attended to, included and feel safe in school is likely to be a major (the major, really) factor in whether a student stays in school and obtains their degree. This is another one of those articles which does not contain a single specific mention of the word 'bullying', but is arguably about it anyway. Read between the lines and see for yourself:

school drop-outs, NY Times

2/14/08:

See 'Legal Issues' page (this site) for an update on cyberbullying law developments, including in NJ. As the material describes, NJ's cyberbullying law (in effect 8/07) provides a basis for school districts to address cyberbullying that "substantially interferes" with school functioning, even if the cyberbullying occurs off-campus. Some NJ districts are hesitant to address such off-site bullying. We consider addressing off-site bullying as a matter-of-fact responsibility of schools and school districts. It would certainly be obvious to any parents of bullied children, and the children themselves, that off-campus bullying should be addressed, cyber- or otherwise. Most 'off-site' bullying, even in cyberspace, occurs in school building-based relationships, between students at the same school or in the same district, though many others (especially in cyberbullying) may be involved. The bullying substantially impacts student functioning in the school. It should be addressed by the school. Anyway, for a good discussion, see the article, which comes from National School Boards Association Legal Clips.

1/8/08:

An important step forward in NJ's efforts to address bullying! (see below) We're extremely grateful to the legislators and organization whose hard work and inspiring commitment created this new effort. Depending on how the new Commission is constituted, much progress on bullying can come from this law. (More details to follow).

January 8, 2008

Now on the Governor’s Desk --

Among the measures approved by the Senate and Assembly:

BIAS CRIMES AND BULLYING CRIMES motivated by national origin or the victim’s gender identity, which includes transsexuals, would be considered bias crimes. The bill would also establish a state commission that would study how to make antibullying laws more effective.

11/07:

A good NY Times article about cyberbullying, spurred by a group of new studies in the Journal of Adolescent Health. (see Research page, this site, for link to the journal, which was provided by the Times)

NY Times 11-07 Cyberbullying article

3/07:

There's been lots of news but no time or sufficient staffing to update this page. The BIG news in 07 is the unanimous (positive) NJ Supreme Court decision in the LW case - for details see the News and Events page.

4/06:

Update on the important CT case in which a mother was wrongfully convicted of contributing to the suicide of her severely bullied child (while the school system's responsibility for addressing the bullying was ignored):

Now on the Governor’s Desk --

March 27, 2005

Lessons of Red Lake and Columbine

March 5, 2005

The Autistic Child: Help and Heartbreak