Create Change at NCC

The NCC Bully Trappers are committed to providing a safe place for students to share personal experiences with bullying. By having students share their experiences, people will be able to learn from what others have gone through, as well as know how and when to reach out and be of help. As stated before, Green Dot will come to meetings to spread their awareness of preventing sexual harassment on campus, as well as sharing their knowledge of Title IX. NCC has many resources to prevent negative behaviors on campus, but we still hear of circumstances that could have been prevented. One voice can make a change and that one voice will encourage others to speak up as well.

The NCC Bully Trappers want to sure that people can and will do something to create a positive change in the campus community. 

Bullying with help of Social Media

Bullying is very powerful because of the different forms it can take. Any person can bully another, whether that be at school, at work, on the playground, and even through a screen. Cyberbullying has become one of the most dangerous and scary means of bullying. A person sitting on their phone or on their computer can take any identity they want to bully or lure in another person because of the unlimited possibilities of the internet and the social media platforms it provides. When it comes to college cyberbullying, “students are at the mercy of social media, where a rumor can easily be started in 140 characters or less.” Yet, cyberbullying has the ability to be more subtle than personal attacks, causing the harm to be more significant.

Some social media platforms provide resources to put a stop to cyberbullying. Facebook for example, has a bullying prevention hub which is in partnership with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. “The Bullying Prevention Hub is a resource for teens, parents and educators seeking support and help for issues related to bullying and other conflicts.”  It also provides guidance on how to start conversations with people experiencing bullying, as well as parents and educators noticing children involved with bullying. Instagram too has a tool where you can report harassment or bullying on its site. Under the help center on the website, there is a safety tips tab where the bullying prevention pops up and it states, “If an account is established with the intent of bullying or harassing another person or if a photo or comment is intended to bully or harass someone, please report it.” This tool also provides a survey on whether or not you though it was helpful, as well as related articles on reporting.

Cyberbullying: Awareness and Prevention

Facebook Prevention Hub

Instagram Reporting Tools

Title IX on NCC Campus

Like every college in America, North Central College is committed to maintaining a healthy, positive, and social environment for all students and staff. Title IX insures the college “will not tolerate acts of discrimination, harassment, sexual misconduct and/or retaliation against anyone in its community on the basis of sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation or pregnant and parenting status.” Title IX’s main correspondence is with prevention of sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, etc. Yet, people bully because of sexual orientation of others, as well as discriminating against a person on the basis of their overall being. Title IX should be another outlet for students to reach out to if they feel that the bullying they are experiencing is inherently affecting their academic behavior, as well as psychological well-being. 

There needs to be a better overall knowledge of Title IX at NCC because of the help it can provide to someone who is being harassed, as well the extremes that an investigation can go to, to get to the bottom of the problem. 

Click here to read full overview

Reach Out!

Along with spreading awareness about college bullying, here are some wonderful places to check out how you can help and get help.

Mean Stinks

“Mean Stinks” is a a campaign from Secret deodorant created to address the need for a community where girls have been bullied and talk about their experiences. Video from celebrities like Amber Riley and a collection of different tools help create a community for support. This is a place where women can look for a “place of community” and support each other in college through the Mean Stinks Facebook page.

Not In Our Town

“NIOT” gives statistics, education programs, lesson plans for teachers, a variety of anti-bullying groups dedicated to specific religions, and even their very own film festival. It has every resource for support that one may need if they are a victim of bullying or know someone who is being bullied. They also give extensive information about cyber-bullying and how to intervene, get help, and get support. They even go so far as to cover rape and neglect on college campuses. This thorough website covers LGBTQ, mental health, and suicide as well. This is great resource that needs more attention and should be spread across social media as much as possible.

How can you help RIGHT NOW?

1. Become a mentor. 

Not every collegiate experiences bullying, but in no means does that mean you can’t help fight for those who face it. Be a role model for those around you by standing up when you see something and offering your phone number and email if you encounter a victim/victims of bullying of any kind.

   2. Figure Out What Inspires You

How do you want to make an impact on the world and in the lives of those around you? Maybe you’re a crafty person who wants to start a knitting circle, or maybe you’re a yoga fanatic who wants to invite others to learn to boost their inner strength, self-esteem, and state of mind. Reach out! Create your own community and welcome anyone who wishes to just be a part of something. Being this kind of a role model can make victims feel safer about coming out of the woodwork, especially with a shared interest! The bonding experiences this will create will help any victim feel more included, less alone, less afraid, and better connected, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

The Differences in Bullying with Gender

As the National Crime Victimization Survey (2009) reveals, boys and girls experience similar
rates of:
• Verbal bullying (about 17‐18% girls and boys)
• Threats (about 6% girls and boys)
• Force (about 3‐4% girls and boys)
• Damage to property (about 3‐4 % girls and boys)
Boys are more likely to experience:
• Physical bullying (about 7% girls and 10% boys)
Girls are more likely to experience:
• Bullying through rumor‐spreading (about 21% girls and 13% boys)
• Exclusion (about 6% girls and 3% boys)
• Cyberbullying (about 7% girls and 5% boys)

What I want to highlight is that there is little attention to “damage to property” as a form of bullying. Stealing lunches, smashing lunches, ripping up homework, stealing and misplacing books or clothes, taking off someone’s glasses and smashing them…these are all things that have happened in high school and college.

Unfortunately, without proof, campus security can’t do entirely too much except write up a report, and it’s sad that students are responsible for replacing their own property most of the time.

How can we prevent this?

As I’ve been saying before, see something, say something. Even if you don’t know the parties participating in the bullying.

NCC Professor seeks to reduce harmful effects of bullying

Bullying occurs across all platforms of education, whether that be in middle school, high school, or college. North Central College is no stranger to bullying, which is why professors in the psychology department are looking to create some kind of change. Professor Patricia Schacht, associate professor of psychology, decided to open and offer a senior-level seminar called “Bullying” because of the “demand for information on the topic of bullying and its prevention.” By opening up a class like this in the psychology department, students of the seminar will be able to self-reflect and understand how they react when they are bullied or see bullying happening around them. Schacht found out that about 75% of her students enrolled in the two seminar classes identified themselves as “bystanders” when witnessing bullying. Many people do not know how to step forward when someone is being bullied, but just imagine what would happen if they were able to stop and the support in that kind of situation.

Schacht’s research is focused on victims of bullying and how teachers and parents can acknowledge bullying behaviors, as well as being better supporters. The critical aspect of gathering research is her determination to use the results she gains to create a prevention program “aimed at educating parents about how to help younger elementary children with coping skills they can use in middle school.” Prevention programs are critical in supporting students that have experienced bullying, as well as spreading awareness on an issue that will not go away, especially when technology is involved. Schacht did receive grant funding from NCC that allowed her to conduct 2014 summer research.

 

Click for full article 

 

A Personal Account from The Author

I wanted to write today about a personal account of bullying to help people further understand the impact of bullying. Well, many accounts.

I realized after many, many years that bullying starts early. Unfortunately, the victims are often shy, a little awkward, or just “different” and because of that they get singled out. For me, I was extremely shy, had glasses and short hair (which was different for a girl).

I was taken by 3 girls almost every recess out to the field and pushed down, kicked, glasses taken and thrown into the field, and then left there to pick myself up and put myself together. I was threatened with violence if I didn’t do what they said, even if that meant saying to the teacher “I was the one who wrote on the wall” when I really did nothing wrong. I got yelled at for things I never did. I was pushed. I had my things stolen. I was called a boy. I was called a lesbian. I was called a piece of shit. I was told I was nothing.

I was harassed with hate letters in middle school for being depressed and having an eating disorder. Eventually, I was friendless because of this, and people did encourage me to commit suicide almost weekly. I was hospitalized at the age of 13 for the first time, one of the many to come.

High school was a bit different. I actually found my friend group and felt connected. Unfortunately, the constant bullying from grades 1-8 impacted me heavily. Aside from an alcoholic father and a rape that happened when I was 6, bullying only added to the fire that scorched my insides and tormented me daily. I started self-injuring at the age of 13 and struggled with it into my 20’s because my self-worth had been shattered from the very early stages of my life.

In college, I was surprised to witness that people picked on others. I thought to myself, “Didn’t this end in grade school? High school?” I thought that people were supposed to be more mature than this. I was shocked to hear muffled conversations of two or three girls or guys making fun of someone in class. A few times, I intervened, saying what they were doing was extremely inappropriate, knowing the damage it does to people firsthand.

After years of therapy and learning to stand up for myself, I left the past in the past, but it has changed me as a human being. I now can spot bullying anywhere. I see it everywhere I go, regardless of age, and see what it does to young children all the way to adults 18 and above. Making someone feel worthless can result in serious damage, physically and mentally. And because the victims feel a low sense of self-worth and confidence, they tend to stay quiet. Preying upon the weak is a primal thing, but we have the power to help each other, and spreading awareness and learning about the signs and signals can help prevent someone from being a victim of prolonged bullying.

In other words, see something, say something. It makes more of a difference than you could ever understand.

The Risk of Suicide: Cyber-bullying

“Go kill yourself! You have nothing left! You’re worthless, fat, ugly, and no one would miss you. Just do it already!”

This is just an example of some of the things Jamey Rodemeyer had to hear, read, experience. Being a victim of constant bullying, Jamey unfortunately committed suicide due to relentless cyber-bullying and in-person bullying. Even though Jamey posted videos complaining about the bullying and asking for help, the fact that no one helped him or tried to intervene only made his self-worth grow smaller and smaller.

In college, cyber-bullying is a growing trend. A recent study from psychology professor Robin Kowalski and Clemson University found the 20-27% of college students are victims of cyber-bullying and that 30% were bullied for the first time in college.

The power of being able to hide behind a computer screen is toxic and can lead to spreading rumors over social media instantly. There’s also room for people to create an anonymous identity to stalk, harass and sometimes threaten victims. The most problematic thing about this is that the victim can do little about it, and even when they go to ask for help, there’s little they can do to help. The information, the rumors, the nasty comments is already out there.

However, there is a way college students can help protect themselves from becoming a victim of cyber-bullying. Kowalski suggests that students can limit the amount of personal information they put online. This allows for people who are “after” you, for whatever reason, to have a harder time searching about you (your interests, your photos, where you live, etc.) This reduces access to personal information that can be used against someone.

At NCC, we have The Green Dot which is against bullying and sexual harassment. Even though there are programs in place, incidents are rarely reported. The problem is that the university needs to know what’s going on. Suggesting that those who come forward will remain annoymous and that the college is working FOR the student’s safety and mental and emotional health can help students feel more comfortable coming forward. The article also suggests that there should be numbers students can call anonymously for support if they are victims of bullying, much like the suicide hotline.

The fact that bullying has lead to suicide from victims ranging from 22 to and young as 10, is something all schools need to being paying attention to. And the ease of which bullies can access someone online is problematic, so the universities need to change how bullying is being handled. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem, and the increasing percentages of suicide because of it desperately needs to be handled better by universities.

Create CHANGE, promote AWARENESS

North Central College has over 60 student organizations on campus. Many of the organizations discuss important issues, such as creating environmental education through on-campus activities, or feeding the need through Feed My Starving Children when they come to campus. Yet, no organizations deal strictly with spreading awareness of bullying that happens on campus. By creating a NEW organization (NCC Bully Trappers), students will be able to have a voice and an outlet to hopefully share personal experiences or get in touch with students who have dealt with similar issues. Since bullying is a tough topic to talk about (especially in front of others), NCC Bully Trappers will have representatives from the Dyson Wellness Center come and speak at some meetings to reinforce how their door is always open. NCC also has an organization called Green Dot which “promotes safety for all our citizens and communicates utter intolerance for violence.” Green Dot focuses mainly on personal violence (sexual violence, domestic violence, stalking, bullying). When NCC students think of Green Dot (myself included), I think of preventing sexual abuse/assaults. But by having a stronger emphasis on bullying can in the end prevent other personal violence situations from happening.

5 Facts About Bullying in College

Bullying is something that most of us have experienced at least one time in our lives, whether it’s in elementary school, middle school (especially in middle school) and definitely in high school. But what about college? In my experience, I expected that college would be a place to start over; a place to find my unique group of people; people that respect me and love me for who I am. But it doesn’t always work out that way.

I recently read an article titled “5 Facts About Bullying in College” after doing some searching on the web. The first sad fact they cover is that

1.) Bullying doesn’t end in high school. The article attributes this to the fact that bullying in high school isn’t always handled the best way, and that it is difficult to put the proper punishment in place for those who do the bullying. The pattern may continue with these bullies into college.

2.) Cyberbullying in college is on the rise. Social media is fun and a wonderful way to keep in touch with our friends and family, share hilarious things, and keep up with what’s going on in the world. It’s also a wonderful way to express yourself. But with the rise of this new technology and the openness of your identity and your life, it gives people the chance to hide behind their computer screens and comment. Comments aren’t always nice, and clashing political beliefs, religious beliefs, stances on social issues, and even personal issues including mental health can be breeding grounds for nasty comments. In 2010, I posted on Facebook about how depressed I was, how hard of a time I was having. I immediately got a nasty comment saying that I “wasn’t trying hard enough” and that “I should f***ing get over myself” because I was “weak and stupid”. I thought this person was a friend, and yet, hiding behind her computer screen, she was able to say something nasty without having to say it to my face. People tend to say things online they wouldn’t say in person, thus creating the complication of bullying through technology.

3.) College bullying presents some unique challenges. You’re in a new town. Maybe you’re very far away from home, family and friends. You’re a freshman. You don’t know your new roommate and you feel isolated. When or if someone starts to become a victim of bullying, you can’t easily get the support of close friends and family members. If your roommate is emotionally abusive, condescending or belittling, you have no one to go to. Furthermore, hazing still exists in some colleges. It’s a brutal tradition that has lessened over the years, but still remains on some campuses and is extremely harsh and sometimes even physically harmful. The harm done by being humiliated can sometimes be enough for the victim to leave the college all together.

4.) Bullied college students often feel alone and isolated. As I mentioned above, you’re away from familiar surroundings, family and friends. You’re on your own now; an official adult, responsible for food, money, laundry, and most of all, your studies. There is immense pressure in college. Add in bullying, and the victim is in desperate need of support. One way the article mentions as a good intervention is for the student’s support group (friends and family) to visit or call often, and for the student to try and reach out to a mentor or school counselor. Students are often shy about doing this, but it is important for families and close friends to support students who are being bullied.

5.) Bullied students often keep quiet about the torment that they are experiencing. No one wants to admit that they’re being harassed, humiliated or put down. The embarrassment often keeps students from gathering the courage to reach out for help or support. While it’s true that there is an expectation that, because they are adults, they need to learn how to handle tough issues on their own, but everyone needs help sometimes, and intervention is needed in most cases. If a friend or family member learns of their friend/daughter/son being bullied, intervention is a good way to help.

In summary, bullying in college is a much more complex issue than in middle school or high school. It presents many different challenges and because of the pressure to be an adult and handle these issues, embarrassment often hinders their decisions about reaching out. The best way we can all help each other is if we see something, do something. Don’t keep quiet about a friend’s situation if they are struggling, and support each other as much as we possibly can. Support systems are huge interventions in bullying, and no one, not even responsible, adult college students, should ever go through it alone.

If you’re interested in reading the article I’ve referenced, here’s the link.

5 Facts About Bullying in College