National Bullying Prevention Month
October is National Bullying Prevention Month, a time of year when we rededicate ourselves to supporting learning environments free of bullying and harassment. NKSD is deeply committed to this cause, ensuring all schools and spaces are welcoming and inclusive for all students, families, and staff.
It's important to remember that everyone's actions matter when it comes to preventing bullying. Parents, school staff, and other adults can play a significant role in helping kids prevent bullying by discussing it, creating a safe school environment, and developing a community-wide bullying prevention strategy. For more information on this topic, including different types of bullying, the effects of bullying, and how you can help, please visit stopbullying.gov.
What Is Bullying?
Bullying is defined as unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. This behavior is either repeated or has the potential to be repeated over time. Both the children who are bullied and those who bully others may experience serious and lasting problems. For an action to be considered bullying, it must be aggressive and include:
- An Imbalance of Power: Children who bully use their power, such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity, to control or harm others. Power imbalances can change over time and in different situations, even involving the same individuals.
- Repetition: Bullying behaviors occur repeatedly or have the potential for recurrence.
Bullying encompasses various actions, including making threats, spreading rumors, physically or verbally attacking someone, and purposefully excluding someone from a group. For more information on this topic, including different types of bullying, its effects, and how you can offer help, please visit stopbullying.gov.