End Mean-Girl Bullying

Bullying can take many forms, but girls are more likely to use behaviors like shunning, taunting, spreading rumors, and betraying a confidence, both online and offline. Teachers and parents tend to write off these behaviors as a “part of growing up,” but the impact is severe.

• Girls say technology allows them to treat their peers more cruelly, without having to see the immediate response to their behavior.
• 38% of girls worry about their emotional safety when spending time with their peers.
• Cyberbullying starts as early as second grade, and 85% of middle-school students say they’ve been cyberbullied at least once.

Focusing only on physical bullying that causes physical harm isn’t enough. We need to protect the physical and emotional security of girls, so that they can achieve their full potential.

Here’s how:

1. Recognize the behaviors exhibited by victims of the mean-girl culture. Victims aren’t likely to seek help from an adult, so it’s vital that you can spot the warning signs:

• Becoming secretive, sullen, moody, anxious, depressed, angry, or sad
• Poor academic performance
• Eating disorders
• Drug and alcohol use
• Risky sexual behavior
• Self mutilation, like cutting and burning
• Suicide attempts

2. Build confidence among girls so that they can change the culture. When a child is bullied, 85% of the time absolutely no one intervenes. It’s the bystander—the “kid in the middle”—who has the greatest potential to change the outcome by

• Stopping rumors by not spreading them
• Standing up for the victim
• Telling an adult, or helping the victim tell an adult
• Setting a good example by modeling respect and kindness 

3. Speak up now!