Bullying and taxing

What is bullying?

Bullying is continued physical or psychological violence carried out by one or more aggressors (bullies) against a victim, based on a relationship of domination. Bullying occurs when children are threatened, beaten, shoved or locked in a room, but also when they receive hurtful or mean messages, when they are made fun of, when rumours are spread about them or when they are wilfully isolated from the rest of the group.

What is taxing?

According to the RCMP, taxing is when a young person or a gang of young people steal property or money from your child, insult or scorn, threaten or hit him or her or require your child to do things he or she doesn’t want to do.

• In high school, bullying (52% to 62%) is leading reason for fear. The fear of gangs and taxing (30% to 54%) and car traffic (20% to 27%) are other sources of feelings of insecurity. (Ayotte V. et al. Objectif jeunes : comprendre, soutenir. Rapport annuel 2004-2005 sur la santé de la population montréalaise. DSP de Montréal, Agence de développement de réseaux locaux de services de santé et de services sociaux)

• Around 15% of cases of absenteeism from North American schools are due to the fact that children feel unsafe at school (Peter Hamilton and Kathleen Mauro, “La prevention de l’intimidation” in Vie pédagogique, no. 129).

• The number of suicides among students who bully and young people who are bullied is much higher than in the population in general, with the rate being higher among the bullies than the victims (Fried and Fried, 1996).

In an article published in La Presse on April 11, 2001, Hayat Makhoul-Minza, a psychologist and professor of education at the Université de Montréal, pointed out that perpetrators and victims of bullying both have self-esteem problems, which, however, specialists must treat differently.

According to Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada (PSEPC): as bullying is repetitive by definition, the effects of victimization on children and teenager can be quite traumatic and long-lasting. Generally, boys and girls who are victimized report symptoms of depression (such as sadness, loss of interest in activities), symptoms of anxiety (such as tenseness, fears, and worries), loss of self-esteem and sometimes, increased levels of aggressive behaviour. Additional effects of bullying on victimized children may include: headaches, stomach aches and school absenteeism, and, in extreme cases, it can lead to suicide (Canadian Initiative for the Prevention of Bullying conference, 2004; Ma, Stewin and Mah; Neary and Joseph, 1994; Olweus, 1993; Slee, 1995). Depending on the situation, some individuals who are victimized as children report psychological harm into adulthood, including continued distress, self-blame, fear, and internalized problems, such as depression (Craig, Peters & Konarski, 1998; Glover, Gough, Johnson & Cartwright, 2003; Haynie et al., 2001; Pepler & Craig, 2000; Smith, 2000; Wilke, n.d.).

Children who bully have not learned pro-social ways to resolve their interpersonal conflicts and their frustrations. They need help to change their behaviour before they become deeply planted (Craig, Peters & Konarski, 1998; Fox et al., 2003; Haynie et al., 2001). Children who continue to bully can later suffer psychological problems such as externalizing problems (conduct disorders), aggressive tendencies, and occasionally depressive symptoms (Harris, Petrie, & Willoughby, 2002; Artz & Nicholson, 2002; Pepler & Craig, 2000).

A 1997 survey of Canadians showed that 6% of children questioned admitted to bullying other children “more than once or twice” during a six-week period, and 15% of children reported being the victim of bullying as often (Pepler et al.). Researchers observing children in the schoolyard and in class confirmed that bullying occurs often: every seven minutes in the schoolyard and every 25 minutes in the classroom (Craig and Pepler, 1997).

Useful links

Tel-jeunes
Intervention service by phone or on-line for teens.
The Tel-jeunes site offers information, answers questions, listens and offers advice to young people. You can find resources for yourself or a friend 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Phone number in Montreal: 514.288.2266
Phone number outside Montreal: 1.800.263.2266
http://telljeunes.com/

The RCMP site
Page on bullying
http://www.rcmp.ca/youth/bebrightbully_e.htm

The site for the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal
Page on bullying
http://www.spvm.qc.ca/en/service/1_4_7_taxage-et-intimidation.asp