• American schools harbor approximately 2.1 million bullies and 2.7 million of their victims (Dan Olweus, researcher, journal article of the National School Safety Center).
• 76.8 percent of students in a Midwestern study say they have been bullied and 14 percent of those students indicated that they experienced severe reactions to the abuse (Study conducted by John H. Hoover, Ronald Oliver and Richard J. Hazler).
• The National School Safety Center estimates that 525,000 "attacks, shakedowns and robberies" occur in an average month in public secondary schools.
• It is estimated that 160,000 children miss school every day, due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students. (National Education Association).
• A survey conducted by the American Association of University Women reported that 85 percent of girls and 76 percent of boys have been sexually harassed in some form. Only 18 percent of those incidents were perpetuated by an adult.
• Young bullies carry a one-in-four chance of having a criminal record by age 30 (study by Leonard Eron and Ronald Huesmann).
• The National Education Association reports that every day, 6,250 teachers are threatened with bodily injury and 260 are physically assaulted.
• One incident of peer harassment takes place every 7 minutes.
• Aggressive behavior and bullying is even more common in elementary school than in junior and senior high. But as children get older their bullying behavior becomes more covert and sophisticated.
• According to Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, the Secret Service found that most of the attackers in columbine and other school shootings and experienced severe and long-standing forms of bullying and harassment.
• Adults intervene in less than 4% of all incidents.
• Peers intervene in less than 11% of all incidents.
• No one intervenes in over 80% of all incidents.
• Over 95% of the incidents of bullying in the schools occur when the teachers and no adults can witness the action. The majority of abuse takes place in the hallways, bathrooms, lunchrooms, and the playground/parking areas.
• Mobile phones and the Internet often provide ways for bullying activity, for example, with insulting messages, and anonymous or threatening emails.

• Victims can be anyone. Sometimes it is an accident of time and place. Some people are more likely to become targets but this does not make it their fault.
• Someone who is different by virtue of physical or cultural characteristics.
• Someone who is envied by the bully for his talent.
• Competing with bully for dominance in the social group.
• Depressed individual with low self-esteem.
• Rescuing or masochistic victim. Often an adolescent girl who feels that she must allow a sadistic boyfriend to humiliate her so that she can rescue him.

• Reluctance to go to school.
• Sunday night "terrors."
• Frequent vague illnesses such as headaches, and nausea.
• Heading straight for the bathroom as soon as arriving home after school.
• Anxiety and acting out exhibited in behaviors such as bed wetting, nail biting, loss of appetite, overeating, stomach aches, crying, stammering, stuttering, tics, exaggerated mood swings, etc.
• Refusing to ride the bus or changing walking route to school.
• Sleeping difficulties including insomnia and nightmares.
• Physical or medical problems that are stress related such as TMJ, or back spasms.
• Personal belongings that turn up missing or come home ripped or damaged.
• Unexplained bruises, scratches or other injuries.
• Suspicious happenings or anxiety associated with the telephone or PC chat rooms.
• Vandalism or suspicious pranks to personal property outside of school campus.
• Depression.
• Has few friends, is rarely invited to parties or other social events.
• Declining academic performance.
• Avoidance of school and truancy.
• Eating disorders.
• Obsessing about appearance, weight, clothes, height, etc.
• Has become aggressive in behavior toward others.
• Obsessive-compulsive behaviors.
• Carrying or wanting to carry something for protection, such as a knife, gun, or box opener.
• School dropout.
• Talks about or tries to run away form home.
• Delinquency.
• Drug use.
• Suicide or attempts to cut or injure self.
• Homicide or other acts of violence to others.
• Scars inflicted by bullying may last a lifetime.

• Bullying is so widespread and so common that the "Rite of Passage" myth has blinded us to its extensive harm.
• Because bullying involves children, it is seen as a minor issue on the horizon of adult crisis.
• Since children are viewed as powerless in our society, adults are often oblivious to the insidious power structure that is part of bullying.
• Western culture maintains certain unwritten codes of behavior that dictate silence, shame, guilt and blame for the victim, admiration of power, athletic prowess and privilege, and desensitization to violence.
• Adults believe that kids need to "toughen up," ignore it or fight back.
• Experience tells us that the prevalence of a problem does not bring about change until concerned citizens take action.
• There is a history of abuse denial in our society that has prevented us from acknowledging child, spouse, and elder abuse.
  

What are some of the other misconceptions about this problem?

• Scientific studies show that bullying in an international problem that affects all schools. Bullying is a problem all over the world.
• The National Education Association has launched the National Bullying Awareness Campaign. They state that bullying is not just child's play. It can no longer be explained away as a normal part of growing up.
• Adults have been known to say things like "I was bullied as a kid, and I'm stronger for it! Everyone goes through it."
• Hurtful teasing is never innocent. The teaser immediately consoles the target that has misunderstood the intention.
• The excuse that the target "asked for it" or "deserved it" is not legitimate although aggressors use it frequently. In the past, adults have been more concerned with "being fair" than intervening in peer harassment.
  
  

• There is a prevailing unspoken and unwritten code in many cultures that cause us to feel ashamed of being a victim. Kids often don't tell because they are ashamed that there was something so repulsive about them that their peers have singled them out to be victimized. (Kids believe that they are responsible for being bullied).
• Parents often will not seek help for themselves, their families or their children because they are ashamed to admit to another adult that they are having this kind of problem.
• Kids are often afraid of retaliation, and rightfully so. When follow-up is handled poorly, retaliation is frequently the result for the victim.
• Children think that no one can help them.
• Kids may believe what adults have told them, that bullying is part of growing up.
• They may see that adults are bullies, too.
• The unwritten code of silence makes them believe that telling an adult about the problem is tattling or "ratting" and therefore is taboo. We have all learned that tattling is unacceptable and immature behavior.
  

We believe schools should be a place where students can feel safe while learning about respect, tolerance, and acceptance.

Social and character development is as important as academic achievement for a successful life.

We believe that safe schools are places where children feel safe enough to let down their guard. And that they feel welcome and they are ready to learn and that they belong.

We believe schools should promote social justice and enhance the self-esteem of all. (Dash, 1995).