Meet Lindsey’s guest Mia! Mia is such an inspiration as she found ‘her voice’ after being bullied. Yet, Mia is now an advocate for anti-bullying and definitely a ‘friend to the bullied’. She is doing what she can to speak out about the cause. It was such a pleasure to talk to someone who knows firsthand what intimidation feels like. Mia has the sweetest spirit and kindest energy. It’s very brave to speak up and subsequently out about something so vulnerable. Yet, Mia and I both know it’s necessary. See, kindness is a gift everyone can afford to give. Thus, please watch below as we both share our story and hope you follow along all in the name of making a difference. Every little bit matters.
A recent round of statistics noted some of the following: (www.dosoemthing.org)
- In the US, 1 in 5 students ages 12-18 has been bullied during the school year.[1]
- Approximately 160,000 teens have skipped school because of bullying.[2]
- Students who reported that they were frequently bullied scored lower in reading, mathematics, and science than their peers who reported that they were never or rarely bullied.[3]
- The most commonly reported type of bullying is verbal harassment (79%), followed by social harassment (50%), physical bullying (29%), and cyberbullying (25%).[4]
- Labeling an incident as bullying can be important because it influences whether students tell an adult, as well as how adults respond to the student’s report.[5]
- More than half of bullying situations (57%) stop when a peer intervenes on behalf of the student being bullied.[6]
- 6th grade students experience the most bullying (31%).[7]
- 70% of school staff have seen bullying. 62% witnessed bullying two or more times in the last month, and 41% witness bullying once a week or more.[8]
- Students are less likely to report bullying as they get older. Only 39% of high schoolers notified an adult of bullying.[9]
- 42% percent of students who reported being bullied at school indicated that the bullying was related to at least one of the following characteristics: physical appearance (30%), race (10%), gender (8%), disability (7%), ethnicity (7%), religion (5%), and sexual orientation (4%).[10]
- Over half of students ages 12-18 who reported being bullied believed their bullies had the ability to influence what other students thought of them. [11]
