A distraught mother has claimed that her 11-year-old son was driven to suicide by bullies at his school.
Thomas Thompson took an overdose of painkillers after other pupils picked on him because he was clever and well-spoken, she said.
Sandra Thompson found her son in his bedroom when she returned home from work in the evening.
Workplace bullying is epidemic. In fact, 37 million U.S. workers face “abusive conduct” during the workday, according to a 2014 survey from the Workplace Bullying Institute. Nearly 29 million others witness this abuse. To put this into tangible terms, the nearly 66 million workers who face or witness bullying equal the combined population of fifteen U.S. states.
These strategies just might save a life.
Bullying can be a serious problem for any child, but for children with a medical challenge such as epilepsy, the risk is increased. Knowing the facts about bullying is the first step toward preventing victimization of children and teens with epilepsy or other medical conditions, and keeping them safe.
What exactly is bullying, and how does it affect the children involved? Bullying consists of aggressive behaviors that are repeated over time and involve an abuse of power by the perpetrator. It may take the form of verbal or physical abuse, or, especially for girls, cyberbullying through social media. The child who bullies learns how to use power and aggression to control and distress another, and the child who is victimized learns about losing power and becoming trapped in an abusive relationship. The lessons for both parties are clearly destructive. Contrary to what some people may think, bullying is not a normal part of healthy adolescent development and the suffering it causes may start early and last a lifetime.
If you are planning for the 2017-18 school year you are probably looking for a quality in-service or keynote to start off the year. Jim Burns is a former teacher, and administrator with over forty years of experience. He has been a professional speaker since the year 2000. He is a college instructor, anti bullying consultant, writer, and course designer. In May of 2015 Jim was awarded the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters for his almost 40 years of work in the area of student behavior management and anti bullying. He can speak to your staff on a variety of topics that are both humorous and enlightening. He believes that Everybody Knows about the true issues in education but for some reason can’t come up with the solutions. He offers self study professional development opportunities that can be found at www.bpconlineacademy.com. To learn more about scheduling an in-service or a consultation click on the link below for more information.
