Pediatrician examining child 

Pediatric health care providers are an important, front line, family-trusted group that can not only detect the warning signs of victimization, but are also in a position to advise parents and advocate for their patients. It is important for health care providers to be prepared to screen and counsel children for bullying during both routine health maintenance exams and illness visits.

 

More than one in four children ... Continue Reading

An Interview with Sameera Ahmed, Ph.D., Director of The Family & Youth Institute

In today’s environment, incidents of bullying against Muslim youth have risen, resulting in concern for schools and youth organizations. I spoke with Sameera Ahmed, Ph.D., Director of The Family & Youth Institute and a leading researcher on American Muslim youth, about what mentoring practitioners can do to build supportive and inclusive programs that meet the needs of Muslim youth and families, while promoting the safety and inclusion of all participants.

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Media coverage of social issues has a profound impact on how communities understand and address problems. Research and expert opinion suggest that certain trends in media coverage of bullying have the potential to do harm. In fact, an analysis of media articles has shown that certain elements of bullying stories are often missing key information, which can lead to misrepresentation of the facts. And, news stories may not be an indication of a trend--journalists are often reporting local incidents.

In light of recent news coverage, it is important to revisit what science ... Continue Reading

Schools across the U.S. frequently confront the issue of bullying among their student population. However, identifying the nature of a specific bullying problem (including its symptoms and causes) in a given school—and implementing solutions that work—is complicated. While research on evidence-based programs is helpful in guiding school personnel toward solutions that have been shown to work in the past, it sheds little light on how those programs or practices were implemented in schools or on the institutional processes, faculty and student body characteristics that made them work.

The new School-based Bullying Prevention I-Guide ... Continue Reading

All children deserve a chance—a chance to be safe, to be educated and to be themselves. Too often, this chance is denied to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning/queer, intersex, gender nonconforming (LGBTQI-GNC) and Two-Spirit* youth. Many of these youth are rejected by their families and bullied by their peers. The lack of familial and peer support can lead LGBTQI-GNC youth into the juvenile justice system, where they may also face abuse or harassment.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is the ... Continue Reading