Few kids can make it all the way through the public school system, from kindergarten to high school graduation, without experiencing being bullied. It’s a problem that has found it’s way off school grounds, and into social media. Children who have a special need are especially vulnerable to being bullied, for a number of reasons. Abilitypath.org has information that parents and teachers can use to help disable bullying.
Bullying should never be looked at as a “right of passage”, or as a “normal” part of attending school. It is a form of victimization where those who are stronger pick on those who are weaker. The bully might be physically stronger than his or her victims, or the bully might have a higher social status. Parents and teachers need to learn about the signs that signal that someone is being bullied. It’s not always going to take the form of something as obvious as a fist fight. Bullying can be done in the form of teasing, name calling, and other mean words, both in person, and online. Teachers and parents need to work together to prevent bullying from going on.
Children who have special needs are especially vulnerable to bullies. Studies done in the United States showed that children who had disabilities were 2 to 3 times more likely to have been the victim of a bully than were their peers, who had no disabilities. Often, the bullying that was experienced was directly related to their special need or disability.
Why do bullies tend to target children who have special needs? There are many reasons. One has to do with social status. Kids who have special needs often have difficulty making friends. Bullies tend to pick on kids who are not a part of the most popular clique. Another reason has to do with ability level. Kids who have physical disabilities may not be able to preform athletically in ways that would generally be considered typical for their age group. Bullies pick up on this weakness.
Some children with special needs will have a lower frustration tolerance than their peers would. Bullies like to get a big reaction from their victims. Sometimes, if the bullying is subtle, some children with special needs will lack the social skills to understand when they are being picked on. Or, they might be unable to understand how to get out of that situation. Unfortunately, this gives bullies more to work with.
AbilityPath.org is an excellent resource for parents of children who have special needs. They have a lot of information about bullying. You can learn how to identify the signs that indicate your child is being bullied. It also has some good advice about how to go about documenting instances of bullying, so it can be brought to the attention of teachers and administrators. It is all a part of their Disable Bullying campaign.
Image by Seth Sawyers on Flickr