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Statement on Bullying

Bullying among all youth, and relational aggression among girls
specifically, has become a growing concern with often alarming and tragic
results as witnessed by the recent death of Amanda Cummings of Staten
Island, NY. As noted in the 1/3/12 New York Times article about this
disturbing case, an average of 67% of high school students in NYC indicate
that they or their classmates report having been bullied or threatened at
school at least some of the time. Closer to home and at a recent Girl Scout
event, high school girls shared their grief and concern about this
situation, as well as their desire to take action against bullying among
their peers.

A key benefit of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience is helping girls from
kindergarten through high school develop and maintain healthy and positive
relationships. Importantly, Girl Scouts’ definition of healthy relationships
really encompasses what we want for all youth, not just our members: the
ability to form and maintain caring relationships, develop direct and honest
communication skills, gain a sense of boundaries, and know when and how to
seek help. Our leadership journeys and badge activities offer girls age
appropriate and fun ways to develop these skills in a safe all-girl space.
The recently released Girl’s Guides to Girl Scouting and leadership journey
programs such as aMaze: The Twists and Turns of Getting Along for middle
school girls help girls build healthy relationships and take action to
prevent or intervene in the face of bullying.

Girl Scouts of Greater New York encourages girls, parents, teachers, trusted
adults and our volunteers to become more educated, raise awareness and
support all youth facing this issue. Beyond the Girl Scout program materials
noted above, the following resources provide information about bullying,
offer help to parents in discussing this topic with their children and
outline strategies for girls to build a network of support to combat
bullying:
 
www.stopbullying.gov

www.seventeen.com/delete

www.girlshealth.gov

www.cccnewyork.org/publications/YCLCfindingsandrecs.pdf