Hate Crimes | Your Role | Help

Bullying, Harassment, & Violence
What's your role? Aggressor, Victim or BystanderBullyingI saw you whining to the teacher about the grade on your paper, you're such wimp...I don't know why, but I just can't stand you.

...Look at me that way again, and I'll kick the crap out of you!
...Why don't you just go back to where you came from.

Sound familiar?
Ya, that's just bullying, and bullying is not violence. Or is it? Most of us think of physical attacks when we use the word "violence"--punching, kicking, shoving, slapping, hitting, shooting or stabbing. But violence also includes threats, intimidation, vandalism, bullying, carrying weapons, and harassment. Violence (including bullying) can take many forms: it can be can be verbal or physical--mild to severe.

Violence
Most teens are not violent and most people your age are not involved in violence--they do not threaten or beat up on people, are not bullies and do not carry a weapon. Most teens will never be victims of violence, and schools are generally one of the safest places to be. But violence involving teens is a serious problem. Every day youth and teens injure (and sometimes kill) one another over incidents that many people consider trivial--an insult, a dispute over a boyfriend or girlfriend, a rumor. Did You Know...On a national level, statistics show that:

• Over half of kids & teens in grades 6 through 12 say they could get a handgun.
• Since 1979, there have been more people under the age of 20 killed by gun violence than Americans killed in action during the entire Vietnam War.

The results of a 2001 survey of Massachusetts high school students¹ are also disturbing. In the 30 days prior to the survey:

• One in eight students (13%) had carried a weapon
• One in sixteen (6%) had carried a weapon at school
• One in thirteen (8%) had skipped school at least once because of feeling unsafe at school or on the way to or from school.

Some teens are targeted for physical reasons, such as being overweight or small. Other teens are bullied, ridiculed or harassed for wearing different or "weird" clothing, having a physical disability, identifying themselves or being labeled by others as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered, or because their race, religion or ethnic origin is different.

Hate Crimes
Under Massachusetts law, hate crimes are those crimes motivated by hatred against a person or group on the basis of race, religion, disability, color, ethnic/national origin or sexual orientation. Hate crimes can occur by a physical attack, intimidating or threatening behavior that puts a person in fear of immediate physical harm or damage to property, such as vandalism. Too often Massachusetts youth and teens are involved in hate crime--both as offenders and victims. In 2001:2

• Youth and teens ages 11 to 15 were victims in more than one in ten (11.3%) reported Massachusetts hate crimes, but were the offenders in almost 20% (16.3%) of these crimes.
• Teens 16 to 20 made up the highest percentage of reported Massachusetts hate crime victims (16.4%), but were offenders in almost 40% (25.3%) of all reported Massachusetts hate crimes.

So...what's this have to do with you?
Like it or not, at some point, you may be involved in a confrontation among teens. This doesn't mean you will be provoking the confrontation (that person we'll call the aggressor). It doesn't mean you will be the target (that person we'll call the victim). But it does mean that you will be around and see or hear the confrontation happening. You'll be a witness, the person known as the bystander. As a bystander, you can play a pivotal role in resolving confrontations without violence. The things you say and do are very important and can either increase the level of violence or possibly prevent violence altogether. You have choices. You can support the aggressor and encourage violence and bullying by yelling, teasing, cheering and pushing. O.K. So you wouldn't do that. You might just watch to see what happens--why not, everyone else is? You're just standing there, you're not doing anything, right?

WRONG:
Physical, verbal or sexual violence (and bullying) is not a spectator sport--just watching means you are part of the problem! The aggressor often needs an audience for her/his violent behavior. Take away the audience (you and the other bystanders), and it becomes much more likely that the aggressor will stop and the victim will be spared some hurt and humiliation. You can make a difference: the choice is yours. Suppose you see someone acting violently-whether physically, verbally or sexually. What can you do as the bystander?

• Be clear. Be firm. Tell the aggressor(s) to stop.
• Don't support the aggressor(s) by teasing, yelling, pushing, clapping.
• Remind the aggressor(s) about the dangers of bullying and violence, like getting hurt (maybe seriously), kicked out of school, benched or thrown off the team, grounded or maybe even arrested.
• Refuse to be a bystander...that just provides an audience and encouragement for the aggressor(s).
• Get some help from a trusted adult.

Stay SafeIf things get physically violent, or if someone has a weapon or is out of control, DON'T PUT YOURSELF IN DANGER. Leave the scene as fast as you can. Encourage others to leave. Get help immediately.

How to Help a Friend
If your friend is a victim of bullying or violence and makes you promise not to tell, it's hard to know what to do. Yet, bullies keep bullying as long as it works--as long as it makes them feel more powerful. If you report the violence, it helps stop it. You may save innocent people from getting hurt--maybe even seriously. Check out these websites:

Nation Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center
www.safeyouth.org Student Civil Rights Project of the Massachusetts Governor's

Task Force on Hate Crime:
www.stopthehate.org/

Footnotes:

1. 2001 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey Results, Massachusetts Department of Education (May 2002). A 2001 Massachusetts Department of Education survey (MYRBS) of over 4,200 public high school students in grades 9 - 12.
2. Summary of Hate Crimes in Massachusetts 2000 Annual Report. Governor's Task Force on Hate Crimes, 2001. Additional Sources: Aggressors, Victims and Bystanders: Thinking and Acting to Prevent Violence, Ronald G. Slaby, Renee Wilson Brewer and Kimberly Dash. Newton, MA: Educational Development Center (1994).
   ¨What's Up with Violence Prevention," Channing L. Bete Co. 2000.
   Teen Yellow Pages, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation.