The silence can be deafening.
Every day, countless children face the sting of exclusion, the bite of cruel words, or the fear of a bully’s next move.
This October, recognized as National Bullying Prevention Month since 2006, it’s time to turn that silence into a collective, powerful voice.
October has been a time to acknowledge that bullying has devastating effects on children and families, such as school avoidance, loss of self-esteem, increased anxiety, and depression, the School District of Osceola County notes.
According to the Florida Department of Education’s Discipline Data, Florida has more than 3,000 incidents of bullying, with more than 1,000 of these incidents not requiring legal enforcement.
Bullying generally falls under four types: physical, verbal, relational (being excluded from activities on purpose, isolating someone from their peers, intentionally harming someone’s reputation and the like) and damaging property. When done digitally it falls under cyberbullying.
Studies shared by the SDOC show being bullied can severely affect the person’s self-image, social interactions, and school performance and can lead to mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and substance use, and even suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
Osceola County District 1 Commissioner Peggy Choudhry is one of the area’s most prominent bullying prevention advocates.
“I think everyone’s been bullied in their life, including myself, and so I think it’s important that when someone is bullied, they know that there’s others there for them,” she said. “The biggest problem is that those being bullied don’t know that there are others to help them.
“Whether it’s someone in their classroom, a teacher, or their parents, they know that there is someone there for them. They don’t have to be alone, they don’t have to feel alone, and they don’t have to take it.”
The Pacer Center, the organization that founded the National Bullying Prevention Month Campaign in 2006, actively leads social change to prevent childhood bullying, so that all youth are safe and supported in their schools, communities, and online.
According to Pacer, their efforts in October provide free information, events, and products for youth, their families, and educators, along with community members to help create a world without bullying. Unity Day, started by Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center in October 2011, is Oct. 22.
Choudhry will host her annual glow-in-the-dark “Chalk Away Hate” anti-bullying event on Nov. 8, at Celebration High School from 5-10 p.m. with lots of activities, such as chalk drawing and raffles, and lots of vendors.
“Everything is free, and all Osceola County students are able to participate in raffles, sign up, and get a bracelet,” Choudhry said. “And then each category goes out and has a time limit to what they have to chalk on the floor, take a picture and upload it to social media, where they then get a raffle ticket to win a prize.” Choudhry said the prizes are electronics like laptops, computers, printers and other electronics students need for educational purposes.
“It’s an opportunity for kids to win these amazing prizes,” Choudhry said. “But more importantly, we have students of Osceola just getting some of the things that they do need for school, which sometimes they don’t have that opportunity to have.”
Choudhry said bullying is more problematic now due to social media and technology.
“Someone behind a keyboard doesn’t have to really face a person, and I think that’s what’s made it very easy,” Choudhry said. “That’s what I’ve seen in these past 10 years is that it’s only getting worse sometimes, because people can do it with no accountability, and if someone’s behind a keyboard with a fake name and they start blasting photos or messages that are very negative towards another person in their school. How do they sometimes even get held accountable?”
Choudhry said her chalk away hate event is meant to fight online bullying.
“The more of us spreading kindness, the more of us saying this is not accepted in schools, the better,” Choudhry said. “Volumes do speak louder.”
For more of Pacer’s resources go to pacer.org/bullying/about/how-pacer-helps/.
