I was reading the FB page of my daughter Ditas yesterday and learned that Carenna who entered 9th grade last month( first year high school) told her that there are Mean Girls in her class. This means verbal bullying to me. I could identify how Carenna felt since I was also bullied when I was in high school.
I wrote my own verbal bullying experience when I was in high school in the 1950's in detail in the first edition of my autobiography. However, a friend suggested I tone it down (the details) since it was too personal. Instead of toning it down, I decided just to omit it in the second edition of my autobiography. Writing it down however was very therapeutic. I have forgotten all about my teenage bullying, until yesterday after reading Ditas FB page.
Here's Ditas Posting: Mean Girls in the HISP* program at CK McClatchy and we thought it would be less likely, but they are everywhere.
*The Humanities and International Studies Program (HISP), founded in 1985, is a rigorous honors program located at C.K. McClatchy High School. (See HISP History for more information on how the program began.) The curriculum—a unique global perspective on learning and understanding—prepares HISP students for success at any college or university in the country.
The following are some reactions from Ditas FB friends to the above posting:
Honestly after 2016 who is surprised?
They are everywhere, sadly. Hugs
Unfortunately they are everywhere
Contact their counselors. And continue contacting their counselors and admin with each and every incident.
College is just around the corner. Tell her it will get better. Hugs
True. Highschool... barf.... college.... so awesome!
Ditas Katague: I know right! my 35th High school reunion is next Saturday and I thought about going but after witnessing Carenna's torment this week, I have PTSD from my high school traumas. And those that caused it, I have no desire to come in contact with.
It's just preparing her for the workforce 😱
Success is the best revenge.
Ditas it's high school ... mean girls are what help us grow into fierce woman and smoke them all! Tell her to hang in there it gets better!
So, how common is teenage bullying in the US?
According to statistics from Family First Aid, about 30 percent of teenagers in the U.S. have been involved in bullying, either as a bully or as a victim of teenage bullying. Data suggests that teenage bullying is more common among younger teens than it is among older teens. However, it may be that young teens are more prone to physical bullying, which is easier to identify, and that older teens are more sophisticated in methods of bullying that are not always exactly identified as such.
Physical bullying is more common among boys, and teenage girls often favor verbal and emotional bullying. Indeed, while boys report that they are more likely to be involved in physical altercations, girls report that they are often the targets of nasty rumors – especially involving sexual gossip. Additionally, girls are more likely to use exclusion as a teenage bullying technique than boys are.
For details on teenage bullying read the following:
http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/teenage-bullying.html
Related News about Verbal Bullying:
Today's news highlights the verbal bullying of Trump and Kim Jong Un:
Trump calls KIM, Rocket Man as well as “unfit,” “rogue” and “gangster”. Kim bullied back and call Trump― a mentally unbalance “dotard,” .
So what is a dotard: According to Merriam-Webster, a “dotard” is a “person in his or her dotage,” with “dotage” further defined as “a state or period of senile decay marked by decline of mental poise and alertness.”
Freelance journalist Jihye Lee said the original statement in Korean used a term better translated as “old beast lunatic,” but it became “dotard” in the English version released by North Korea.
