Cindy Miller - The Essential Guide to Bullying Prevention and Intervention: Protecting Children and Teens from Physical, Emotional, and Online Bullying

The Essential Guide To

Protecting Children and Teens from Physical,
Emotional, and Online Bullying

by Cindy Miller, LCSW, and Cynthia Lowen

A member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

ALPHA BOOKS

Published by Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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Copyright 2012 by Cindy Miller and Cynthia Lowen

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ISBN: 978-1-61564-268-7

14 13 12 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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ALWAYS LEARNING

PEARSON

Dedication

We dedicate this book to the courageous children, adolescents, and families everywhere whose lives have been interrupted by senseless and undeserved acts of cruelty, abuse, and violence. At long last, their voices are being heard. May they continue to grow louder as they lead us out of ignorance to join the movement to stop bullying and start respecting and taking good care of each othera movement whose time is long overdue.

Foreword

No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it. These are the words of perhaps the greatest problem-solver of all time, Albert Einstein. Einstein put his consciousness toward unraveling the laws of our physical universe; the same can be said of our societys shifting attitudes, understanding, and response to bullying.

Until recently, bullying was considered to be an integral part of growing up. At one time or another, most of us feared or felt resigned to being targeted by a bully, and the bullies themselves acted with impunity, with little fear of consequence. Bullies were taken for granted; they seemed inevitable; and it was hard to imagine a world without them.

Today, we recognize the painful and damaging impact bullying has on our children, our families, and our society. Bullying is corrosive and damaging and cannot be tolerated. Kids who bully or who are targeted are at risk for depression, anxiety, substance abuse, low academic achievement, and a host of other problems that, if left unaddressed, can follow our kids into adulthood. As a society, we have seen far too many tragedies as a result of bullying at school, online, and through text messages, social networks, video games, and other places in our communities where kids should feel safe. Bullying creates a chain of violent behavior that must be addressed from a systemic point of view.

Responding to the challenges of our time calls for new and creative ways of observing, planning, and collaborating to create healthy social and emotional behavior. We must be able to envision a different kind of society where bullying behaviors are not accepted, where it is the norm to intervene and stand up to bullying rather than to stand by, and to create environments in our schools and communities where bullying simply cannot take root.

Combining the unique perspectives of co-author Cynthia Lowen, producer and writer of the groundbreaking film Bully, and Cindy Miller, school social worker and psychotherapist, The Essential Guide to Bullying: Prevention and Intervention offers parents, educators, therapists, and anyone who cares about todays youth numerous prevention, identification, and intervention strategies. This book is a comprehensive guide that offers readers an understanding of kids who are targeted, kids who engage in bullying behaviors, and the bystanders who often feel caught in the middle. This book also examines the reasons why bullying happens, how it has changed over the years, and the short- and long-term effects of being a bully, target, or bystander. While bullying may not be a new problem, we are beginning to view positive steps that we can take toward prevention, identification, and intervention.

The information contained in this book is an opportunity for readers to shift their own consciousness about bullying and profoundly change the lives of our children.

Phylicia Rash