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School bullying is widespread across the United States. According to www.nobully.com, each day an estimated 160,000 children
refuse to go to school because they dread the physical and the verbal aggression of their peers, and the loneliness that comes
from being excluded and made the target of rumors and cyber-bullying.
Mr. Ted Feinberg, in his article published in the Principal Leadership Magazine, goes into a great detail about Bullying
Prevention and Intervention. It reads:"Although bullying was once dismissed as an ordinary part of growing up, we now
know that it is an insidious antisocial behavior that traumatizes millions of students each year and undermines the fabric
of school life for millions more. Most principals understand the global realities of the problem-that an estimated 15% to
30% of students nationwide are either bullies or victims; that bullying encompasses a spectrum of aggressive behaviors ranging
from overt acts of physical violence to far more subtle, yet equally destructive, patterns of verbal or relational cruelty;
and that bullying is often a common thread linking a school's most troubling issues, including suicide, substance abuse, increased
absenteeism, and academic failure.
The greater challenge lies in recognizing bullying in their school. Teachers and administrators frequently underestimate
the extent and effect of bullying and, as a result, fail to prevent or stop it. In part, this is fueled by indifference-nearly
25% of teachers report that they do not think it necessary to intervene in bullying-and by the surreptitious nature of the
behavior. Adolescents are masterful at shielding their social-and antisocial-lives from adults. Moreover, although students
know bullying is painful, they often are not clear that bullying is wrong or preventable, so they do not report it."
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