When a member of my extended family dropped out of high school, the reason broke my heart. The teen was mercilessly bullied by classmates because his parents, both of whom are Deaf, use sign language with him in the home (he is hearing). This is shocking and unbelievable, and it has to stop.
I started the Stop Hearing Loss Bullying campaign because of my family member’s sad story. This could have been eliminated, had the students and staff been educated in the Deaf culture. Instead, my family member remains with his parents and is working to complete his GED.
Why Most Bullying Goes Unreported
According to a newly released study by StopBullying.gov, 28 percent of teens reported in 2012 that they were bullied in school. Boys were bullied more than girls. Incidents ranged from being sent threatening text messages and emails to getting pushed and punched.
Sadly, according to the StopBullying.gov findings, most bullying goes unreported because:
1) Those who report bullying may be called ‘tattlers’ or ‘snitches’ by their peers.
2) There are certain gender stereotypes that prevent bullying from being reported.
3) Retaliation can occur toward those who report.
4) Adults in authoritative positions may not take the bullying seriously or may choose to ignore it.
Two of the people featured in the new Stop Hearing Loss Bullying Video (see above) share how classmates taunted them physically. Tara, featured at the video’s beginning, explained how the marks and bruises on her arms didn’t come from casual horseplay. She was pinched and shoved and ridiculed because of her deafness.
Dave, at the video’s end, said the only way he could survive the bullying about his deafness as a teen was to hang out with the tough crowd.
How Can We Prevent Bullying from Starting?
I could go on and on with the stories, but I won’t. Why? Because it’s time to focus on educating our pre-teens and teens that bullying because of hearing loss and deafness is unacceptable. It’s socially unacceptable to harass and hurt someone who can’t hear.
It’s time to make bullying of any kind in schools and our communities SOCIALLY and MORALLY WRONG. And anyone who does participate in this behavior should be CALLED OUT by AUTHORITIES.
This means involving administrators, staff, resource officers, and student representatives in awareness workshops about hearing loss, deafness, and the countless stories of young people who were bullied because of it. This means showing the Stop Hearing Loss Bullying Video in school. It’s produced by me, Shanna Groves, and I give permission for it to be shown anywhere, everywhere.
Will you commit to showing the Stop Hearing Loss Bullying Video in your schools? If so, please write to tell me…Because hearing loss and deaf bullying ENDS with ME and YOU.
Lipreading Mom 
The stop hearing loss bullying link does not work.
Kathryn – Thank you for bringing this to my attention. The correct link for Stop Hearing Loss Bullying, which has been corrected, is http://LipreadingMom.com/Stop-Hearing-Loss-Bullying.
Shanna, bullying in general needs to stop with the parents of the child who is affected by such acts. What I have seen is this…and I am speaking from personal experience here. Back in my time, fathers of boys would say stuff like…”be a man…or tough it out…or go kick his butt.” That was the “old school” way to address bullying and I think a lot has to do with either the father did not want to get involved or they just did not know how to address it.
As a father today of two children, daughter is 5 and son is 9. I find myself extremely proactive in their schooling and ensuring they have a normal social life outside of school. No, I am not a helicopter parent either…I give my kids room to grow on their own. But what I do see that is different from my time as a kid…is that I spend time talking to my kids about their every day life and show interest in what they do at home, school or anywhere.
Unfortunately, there are many parents out there that either cannot spend time with their children because they are working or just not accustomed to doing those things because they were not brought up that way. My Dad, was a wonderful provider for the family but that came with a cost, unfortunately…and did not have the luxury to talk to me everyday like I do with my kids. If he have talked to me, he would have understood some of the issues I went through at school. I just learned to find my own solutions…and my Dad did empower me that way.
So, to sum it up in a nutshell, I believe that it is the parents responsibility to pinpoint those bullying issues…and address it with the school. And for parents to empower their children with knowledge, resources and ways to address bullying effectively. The only way this can be done…is by maintaining a healthy dialogue with their children on an everyday basis.
One last thing, if I may, what you are promoting here is just awesome work! I applaud your efforts and everyone else’s as well. Hopefully this video will be instrumental in creating the needed dialogue between parents and children to stop bullying. Thanks for your hard work, Shanna! 🙂
R85 – That is an excellent point about the parents getting involved in educating their children about bullying. I plan to share your comments on the Stop Hearing Loss Bullying Facebook page at http://www.Facebook.com/StopHearingLossBullying. Feel free to join us there for the discussion, as well.
Thanks, Shanna! 🙂
Reblogged this on The Daily Advocate By Painspeaks.
@painspeaks – Thank you so much for the reblog!
http://doilooksick.wordpress.com/2013/06/07/kicking-it-up-a-notch/‘
Thanks again for the interview! Here’s one more shout out and an award!
Rachel – Thank you for the mention of LipreadingMom.com on your blog. You and your blog rock!