A recent study conducted by folks behind the Teasing and Bullying: Unacceptable Behaviour (TAB) program found that one of the reasons why bullies torment kids who stutter is:
They were unaware of the speech impediment.
Before I explain further…
TAB is a program developed to decrease bullying aimed at children who stutter. The group works with kids from grades 4 – 6, but the program can be tweaked to accommodate younger children.
And if you continue reading, you’ll see why TAB can be effective on children bullied for other reasons aside from stuttering too.
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How does TBA crush the bullying behavior?
Here are points I gathered from the study (which was conducted to measure the program’s effectiveness) and information from their website.
By creating awareness on children with differences. According to the study’s findings, kids who have family members or friends who stutter were more sensitive to peers who have the speech impediment.
On the flip side, children who don’t know anyone who stutters had a negative attitude towards stutterers.
With the program’s help, bullies are given the proper education on children with differences to increase sensitivity. And of course, decrease bullying.
By changing the perception of bullying. When children – bullies and non-bullies alike – are taught that the behavior is unacceptable, bullies lose power. This is because their peers no longer think bullying is “cool” which diminishes their social status.
These two seemed hinged on the belief that: attitudes predict behaviors.
It makes sense. Behavior can be changed by first changing attitude.
So, how does this affect you?
If you feel strongly about ending bullying in your children’s school, you may recommend the TAB program to educators. It’s ready to use and implement, and they ship materials internationally. Go here for more information.
Question: What are you doing to eradicate bullying today?
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Awesome post Anne! This is very high in school today, and its so dangerous. My 3 oldest boys are in school and 1 of the twins was bullied last year on the bus, and I went to the school, got everything handled and it stopped, but I also know thats with prayer also. I think these programs are the very best they can do, the middle school and high school do not tolerate this they have alot of clubs and meeting about bully awareness.
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I’m sorry to hear about your boy being bullied, but am glad that it’s now sorted out. Agree that these programs are so important because bullying can lead to so many negative consequences.
This sounds like a great program, Anne! Sad to me that kids bully other kids. I didn’t have a lot of experience with it growing up, and I pray that my kids don’t have to deal with it. But I love that this program is available.
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Paula, it seems like a great program since it de-stabilizes bullies, so to speak, by involving the community in dismissing the behavior.
Bullying is one of those things that makes my stomach drop into my feet. It’s scary because you don’t know the roots of the children’s taunting or how far they’ll take the bullying… I like the idea of a program like this because it sets out to teach tolerance and acceptance towards what makes us different, and that’s what it really boils down to: Fear of the unknown.
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That’s so true, Jenn. It’s nice of the program to really focus on tolerance. Kids are smart, once they’re exposed to what they aren’t aware of and tolerance sets in, no more bullying. Win-win for everyone!
Thank you for sharing this, Anne!
I hope, though, that my son wouldn’t have to experience something like this in the future.
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I’m with you: hope none of our children ever experience this in the future.
I was bullied and the worst part of those years was having my brother walk by one day while I was getting physically abused. delightful, huh? Schools definitely need more education on how to be aggressive about bullying since parents & siblings sometimes never know
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Absolutely! Also love that his program is available for anyone to use… we might need it here in the Philippines.
This sounds like a great program, Anne! Sad to me that kids bully other kids. I didn’t have a lot of experience with it growing up, and I pray that my kids don’t have to deal with it. But I love that this program is available.
Also pray that your kids never experience bullying!
I think the kids who are strong enough to stand up to bullies need to. These would be the popular kids, who have that kind of power at school. This program sounds like it probably reaches all kids, but the popular kids can run the show…remember how that was? It’s funny to see this mean girl-bully we all dealt with in middle school on Facebook now. She’s still a jerk.
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Agree that the popular kids have the power, which is why I love how this program neutralizes that power by getting their peers to dismiss the bullying behavior. I’m lucky though that I wasn’t bullied in highschool or college. Guess it helps when you’re taller than most girls
So you’re tall too, huh;) I wasn’t really bullied either, but just the dumb, mean girl stuff, where they decide they will be mean to you for a day. They weren’t my friends anymore after that, and I guess I was lucky that I was always very independent in my personality, and didn’t care if they were my friends. They had no impact.
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Well, I’m taller than most. And am glad those bullies didn’t have any impact on you. You must be a toughie!!! (Now cowering in fear)
I think this is true not just for kids but for adults as well. We are less understanding than we should be. We poke fun at people and groups, though really we hurt them with our “off-handed remarks.” A little tolerance and understanding goes a long way. The scars of hidden hurts are as painful as the obvious ones.
Thanks for a great post.
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Love what you said, Karen! I suppose we are all guilty of this.
Great post! Bullying is so ugly and it’s great to hear someone coming up with some real solutions.
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Hey, Shannon! Yes, I love the work TAB folks have done! It’s ready to use so anyone from anywhere can just buy it and implement it.
Anything we can do to empower our kids to be leaders themselves is GREAT. We had a little situation this weekend while camping and my friend gave me the line “Lead or Leave” meaning if you can’t be a leader for yourself in a situation and make your own decisions, you should probably leave. I like that it makes my child reflect about whether or not they are being a leader in a given situation.
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That’s great, Val!! That would really empower kids to think for themselves and step-up.
Great post. I know that schools are much more aware than they once were. We are getting there, one step at a time, but parents still need to be involved and aware.
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Yup, there’s so much more awareness on bullying, though, it’s still not enough. Thanks for giving this the plus one!
It’s amazing how much a little education can help lessen bullying. I saw this firsthand when I was a teacher. TAB sounds like an awesome program!
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It is pretty amazing, Audra! That’s why I had to write about it and tell you guys!