In 2010, President Obama made a speech about bullying to support the “It Gets Better” project, which was founded to bring attention to bullying, especially of LGBTQ youth. In his speech, the President said:

“We’ve got to dispel the myth that bullying is just a normal rite of passage – that it’s some inevitable part of growing up. It’s not. We have an obligation to ensure that our schools are safe for all of our kids.”

Although parents, teachers, and especially young people agree with President Obama, bullying is still a difficult issue to resolve. Most teens know what constitutes bullying, but they still engage in it or feel powerless to stop it. Some people believe laws should be amended to make bullying a crime. Others are concerned that harsh legislation just creates more rules instead of teaching teens how to treat each other respectfully. They worry about equitable treatment for children who have been bullied, as well as appropriate consequences for children who have bullied.

The students in Mr. Seemy’s class want to find out how common bullying is at Franklin Middle School. They have identified four types of bullying: verbal, physical, social, and cyberbullying. Mark how often you notice the different types of bullying in your school: 1 = Never; 2 = Rarely; 3 = About once per week; 4 = A few times per week; 5 = Once or more per day.

According to the data you collected, what type of bullying is most common at your school? Least common?

Discussion Question:

Have you ever noticed adults engaging in these bullying behaviors? How could adult behavior affect young people’s behavior?