Viewpoints: Letters / Opinions
RE: The Whisper App and Your Kids
By Dawn Luna
May 23, 2013
Thursday
First off I want to say to Jessica Travis, I commend you on your letter, and I could not agree with you more.
I am not a parent, but I am an Aunt, and I am an Aunt who is very concerned with the bullying that goes on in our community amongst our youth. Not a day has gone by in the last month that I have not heard a youth talking about being bullied and/or a parent talking about their child being bullied. WHEN, WHERE, and HOW does it STOP I ask you???
The Whisper App should be called the Bullying App, because that is exactly what it does, it bullies. If you know your child has this app, remove it, IT IS NOT HARMLESS. The things that are said via this app are just as Jessica described and those shockingly enough are some of the more milder cases, this app is the worst thing you have ever read on a bathroom wall x 100.
As a community we need to say NO and show NO TOLERANCE for the cruelty that is bullying.
FACTS & STATISTICS ON BULLYING
- It is estimated that 160,000 children miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students. National Education Association.
- American schools harbor approximately 2.1 million bullies and 2.7 million of their victims. National School Safety Center.
- 1 in 7 Students in Grades K-12 is either a bully or a victim of bullying.
- 56% of students have personally witnessed some type of bullying at school.
- 15% of all school absenteeism is directly related to fears of being bullied at school.
- 71% of students report incidents of bullying as a problem at their school.
- 1 out of 20 students has seen a student with a gun at school.
- 282,000 students are physically attacked in secondary schools each month.
- Those in the lower grades reported being in twice as many fights as those in the higher grades. However, there is a lower rate of serious violent crimes in the elementary level than in the middle or high schools.
- 90% of 4th through 8th graders report being victims of bullying
- Among students, homicide perpetrators were more than twice as likely as homicide victims to have been bullied by peers.
- Bullying statistics say revenge is the strongest motivation for school shootings.
- 87% of students said shootings are motivated by a desire to get back at those who have hurt them.
- 86% of students said, other kids picking on them, making fun of them or bullying them causes teenagers to turn to lethal violence in the schools.
- 61% of students said students shoot others because they have been victims of physical abuse at home.
- 54% of students said witnessing physical abuse at home can lead to violence in school.
- According to bullying statistics, 1 out of every 10 students who drops out of school does so because of repeated bullying.
- Harassment and bullying have been linked to 75% of school-shooting incidents.
Sincerely,
Dawn Luna
Ketchikan, Alaska
About: "I live in the community of Ketchikan. I have worked with, advocated for, and helped promote independent living for individuals with disabilities for the last 24 years."
Received May 21, 2013
- Published May 23, 2013
Related Viewpoint:
 The Whisper App and your kids By Jessica Travis
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