Back to school blog: Take the pledge to stand up for bullied students

I recently did a blog on bullying, Back to school blog: Bullying and the lasting scars: My personal story.  After I wrote the blog I started receiving nasty emails from two of the bullies mentioned in the blog.  One message even had a threat in it.  Obviously, not everyone grows up; some people stay bullies their entire lives.  It must be a miserable existence.  Because of my experiences with bullies throughout middle, junior, and high school I feel very strongly about helping others who are being bullied and preventing it from happening in the first place.

To highlight the importance of stopping bullying here are some statistics on bullying and suicide.

The statistics on bullying and suicide are alarming:

• Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year, according to the CDC. For every suicide among young people, there are at least 100 suicide attempts. Over 14 percent of high school students have considered suicide, and almost 7 percent have attempted it.
• Bully victims are between 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims, according to studies by Yale University.
• A study in Britain found that at least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying.
• 10 to 14 year old girls may be at even higher risk for suicide, according to the study above.
• According to statistics reported by ABC News, nearly 30 percent of students are either bullies or victims of bullying, and 160,000 kids stay home from school every day because of fear of bullying.

I found this pledge to stand up for bullied students and I wanted to pass it along to my readers.  This information is from their webpage:

Take the Pledge to Stand Up For Bullied Students

Bully Free: It Starts With Me

One caring adult can make all the difference. NEA's Bully Free: It Starts With Me campaign asks you to fill out this pledge form so that you can be that one caring adult.

I agree to be identified as a caring adult who pledges to help bullied students.  I will listen carefully to all students who seek my help and act on their behalf to put an immediate stop to the bullying.  I will work with other caring adults to create a safe learning environment for all the students in my school.

Please take this pledge to stand up for bullied students.  If we all take part in stopping it then we can make a difference in a lot of students' lives.