From the ArcaMax Publishing, Parents Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/parents/s-573545-824110
TUCSON (UPI) -- Nearly 10 percent of children are bullied by
electronic means such as text messages, with girls more likely to be
victims, U.S. researchers said.
The study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, found
bullying remains much more common in person, with large numbers of
kids continuing to harass one another by spreading rumors, turning
fellow students into outcasts and intimidating others through words
and violence. Thirteen percent of students said others physically
bullied them -- hit, kicked, pushed or shoved them or locked them
indoors.
Stephen Russell, director of the Frances McClelland Institute for
Children, Youth & Families at the University of Arizona, said there
was a bright spot in the study -- the findings suggest parents have
the power to prevent kids from bullying or being bullied.
"Parental warmth and support may improve your own psychological
development, meaning you're less likely to feel a need to degrade
others to improve your own self-esteem," study co-author Ronald
Iannotti, a researcher with the National Institutes of Health, said in
a statement.
The study authors examined a 2005 national survey that asked 7,182
students in grades 6-10 about bullying. About one-third of students
said others called them mean names, made fun of them or teased them in
a hurtful way; about one-third acknowledged doing the bullying
themselves; and 26 percent to 32 percent said others spread rumors
about them or ostracized them.