It is a staggering but true fact – a girl is bullied every seven minutes at school, either in the playground, classroom or bathroom, by another member of the female population. The worrying statistics of girl bullying demonstrate to us that 43% of girls dread harassment in the bathroom at school and that intercession accounts for only 4% amongst teachers and 11% between the peers of the victim. Sadly and even more shockingly, there is no intervention whatsoever from anyone in a position of authority for 85% of the time.

These statistics once again show us that school girl bullying is not only dismissed but not thought to be at all dangerous. As a means to discourage school girl bullying, some schools have developed a program for the teachers, counselors and administration staff to persuade children to behave well towards each other, providing them with the skills they need to prevent school bullying as and when it is revealed. More importantly this also gives the bullied girl the opportunity to personally speak to staff without fear of repercussion.

The predicament the victim is in is that the majority of school bullies involve their friends, who are instructed to keep an eye on the victim on the bully’s behalf. Watching the victim like this, the friends of the bully may well notice how frequently the girl is talking to counselors, or paying visits to the assistant principal’s office, following an episode of bullying. They may even be watching her as she leaves school to see if she is collected at the school gates by a parent or guardian.

As we have seen from the figures available, bullying between girls is out of control. Girl bullying data discloses that only 15% of girls who are bullied in fact inform someone. This is a frightening yet steady sign which underscores the call for for a program intended to convey consciousness of just how grave school girl harassment is turning out to be.

In the middle schools of today, school girl bullies are hard to control. Furthermore, catching them in operation is more or less impossible because they are not as direct as schoolboy bullies who openly opt to exchange blows. Bullying between girls is understated. It is more often than not carried out by spreading gossip, thereby leaving the victim powerless to trace back to the point where it started.

Whilst boys may intimidate other boys either because they are unlike the others or seem to be frail, school girl bullying works on the emotions of the victim. Particularly in middle schools, new pupils find it hard to form companionship and due to peer demands being so great, it’s all too easy for the newcomer to fall in with the wrong crowd, and one that is usually led by a girl bully. Therefore, if they see an episode of school girl bullying, they are worried and confused about whether or not to report the incident.

The National Institute of Childhood Diseases tells us "bullying is a community health difficulty which deserves awareness." One may well argue that this evaluation does not come any where near sorting the problem out, and that school girl bullying has gone way ahead of simply "deserving awareness".

Bullying between girls is more extensive than earlier thought, however it still manages to avoid officials in schools. School bullying occurrence intelligence is rarely documented in these cases and girl bully’s parents appear to regard this form of conduct as justified. These parents display offensive actions too so it seems reasonable to come to the conclusion that girl bullying is a learned and passed down form of behavior.

© By Mandy-Jane Clarke

Stop-Bullies.com