"Bullying is a problem that transcends generations. The devastating effects have forced victims into isolation and pushed some to suicide. Every story of bullying gone too far sparks a firestorm of frustration and outrage. Parents, teachers, and society as a whole are blamed. Along with the accusations come demands for action. Despite calls for legislation, programs, or harsh punishment for bullying, there is no simple solution.
"Yet the situation is not hopeless. As the largest preparer of Illinois teachers, Illinois State University faculty, staff, and students are taking a stand against bullying through research, curricula, and programming."
So writes Steven Barcus, copy editor with Illinois State's University Marketing and Communications Department, in the recent article "Breaking A Bully's Grip." Barcus outlines the steps taken after ISU School of Communications Administrative Aide Patty Franz discovered the severity of the bullying problem faced by her granddaughter and others in her junior high.
"(My granddaughter) threw her backpack in the back seat, jumped in the car, rolled up the window, and told her grandma to drive," Franz recounted. "She said, ‘Get out of here right away, grandma. Some girls are going to beat me up.’
“I asked why. She said, ‘I don’t know. I guess they don’t like me.’”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines bullying as “unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time.” Bullying has long been an unfortunate fixture in scholastic life, but social networking, increased media bombardment, and growing diversity in the classroom have added troubling, sometimes dangerous new dimensions to an age-old issue. Franz already had seen reports of children bullied to the point of mental breakdown, or in extreme cases, suicide. She decided to take action.
Four Communications grad students who had their own dealings with bullying volunteered to help Franz. One student was a mother of a child who had been bullied at the same school, one had a sister that bullied students at that junior high, one had been bullied, and another had a friend who had committed suicide as a result of bullying.
The group named itself Transformers and partnered with teachers and administrators at Parkside Junior High School to deliver lesson plans promoting positive social behavior. When word spread, the group of four students grew to 20.
Read Barcus' account of the progress the Transformers and their mentor, School of Communications Professor Cheri Simonds have fostered and learn more about the psychology and dynamics of bullying at http://stories.illinoisstate.edu/magazine/illinois-state/features/whats-required-break-bullys-grip/