What Prompts Bullying In Westlake Schools

WESTLAKE, OH — Two Westlake police officers spent hours talking with students about the dangers of bullying last week. The officers gave advice on how to handle pressure and threats from peers while learning what prompts bullying in local classrooms.

Bullying and peer pressure have perhaps always been endemic to American schools. However, in the age of connection, when social media provides around-the-clock access to anyone, bullying has become a deadlier threat to teens and tweens around the nation.

As Patch has learned over the past year, bullying can become so severe, so constant that its victims choose to end their own lives rather than continue suffering torment. Heading off bullying, or providing a safe outlet for its victims, has become more important than ever.

When Westlake police visited with junior high students last week, they asked their audience to write down what causes bullying. The list of answers was both surprising and familiar:

• Bullied for what you are wearing
• Bullied for being bad at sports
• Pressure to complete a dare
• Pressure to pick the "right" friends
• Bullied for how you "look or act”
• Bullied if you are good at something
• Bullied for being too smart

The students said their bullying had taken the form of incessant name calling or forceful taking of things from one student.

The consequences of bullying unchecked are devastating in multiple other ways, according to experts. The problem is so pervasive that an estimated 160,000 kids stay home from school every day to escape kids who bully them.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Department of Education said in a joint report in 2014 that at least one in three children experiences bullying in school. Everyone involved in bullying suffers — the kids who bully, their targets, kids who both bully and are targets, and even those who witness the horrible acts, the CDC said.

The Menace Of Bullies: Patch Advocacy Reporting Project

As part of a national reporting project, Patch has been looking at society's roles and responsibilities in bullying and a child's unthinkable decision to end their own life in hopes we might offer solutions that save lives.
Do you have a story to tell? Are you concerned about how your local schools handle bullies and their victims?
Email us at [email protected] and share your views in the comments.
Selected Stories From The Project

• Bullied To Death: When Kids Kill With Words
• America's Shameful Truth About School Shooters And Bullying
• Bullying Kids: Straighten Up, Or Your Parents May Have To Pay Up
• Teen Who Killed Himself Wasn't 'Worthless,' Family Tells Bullies
• Menace Of Bullies: Why This Woman Resigned Her 6-Figure Job
• Survivor Of Bullying And Suicide Writes Frankly About Both
• Girl-To-Girl Bullying: Why It's Different, Difficult To Confront
• Bully Upstander: Whatever He Said Caused Bullies To Back Down
• Bullying Caused 11-Year-Old To Attempt Suicide, Mother Says
• Bullied 10-Year-Old's Suicide 8th In School District This Year
• The Menace Of Bullies: Most U.S. States Take On Cyberbullying
• Cyberbullying Is Now Against The Law In Michigan
• Shooting Incident Linked To Bullying At School, Mom Says
• Girls More Likely Than Boys To See Bullying As Harmful: Study
• 13-Year-Old Hangs Herself, But Bullying Killed Her
• Teen Tells Bullies In Video: 'Every Day, I Wear Your Words'
• 'The Hero Myth': Why Expecting Kids To Fight Bullies Is Harmful
• 'Mr. Anti-Bully': Reformed Bully, 12, Sets Mistake Right
• Mallory Grossman Bullying Detailed In Wrongful Death Suit
• Malden Schools Were Non-Compliant Through Bullying Saga: DOE
• 'They All Failed And Changed A Child': Malden Bullying Detailed
• Mom Speaks About Bullying Heartbreak: 'I Feel I Failed Him'
• Why These Kindergartners Start Each Day With A Handshake
• The Bully Menace: 'The Hurt Never Goes Away'
• Bullies And Their Targets The Same: Digital Self-Harm Rising
• Williamsburg Poetry Teacher Helps Bullied Kids Open Tortured Minds
• Bullying Tougher To Confront When It's Bias-Based: Researchers
• The Bully Menace: 13 Age-Appropriate Reads
• Teen's 'I Wear Your Words' Video Inspires Nashville Songwriters

From No Bully, Patch News Partner

• School Shootings: Eradicating Bullying Must Be Part Of Safety Plan
• Eradicating Bullying: Progress On Creating Bully-Free Environment
• Is Screen Time Hurting My Child?
• Preschool Children: Online And Dangerous
• What Every Young Child Needs To Know About Being Online
• Patch Partners With No Bully To Help Eradicate Bullying
• Meet 14-Year-Old CEO On Mission To Spread Kindness, Stop Bullying
• Meet Talen And Cooper, 2 Upstanders Demonstrating Kindness
• Cyberbullying Is Now A Crime In Michigan: Is Criminalizing A Good Idea?
• Hitting A Homerun With Kindness With The Phillies

From The Experts

• 'The Anti-Bully': Talk And, Especially, Listen To Your Kids
• The Bully Menace: Patch Experts Offer Tips To Parents
• Anti-Bully Experts Offer Tips On Sometimes Deadly Encounters
• Understanding The Bully: They're Often Victims, Too, Experts Say

What We've Learned

• The Bully Menace: What Patch Has Learned About Bullying