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This section pulls together fundamental information about bullying, including: In 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Department of Education released the first federal definition of bullying.

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Is your child being bullied at school? In a Harris Poll from February 2014, 60 percent of respondents said they or someone they know have been or are now being bullied in school. A groundbreaking new study on peer victimization among tweens and teens, published in the March 2014 issue of Pediatrics, associated bullying with worsening physical and psychological health, depression, and self-worth over time. To prevent the lasting effects of bullying, the study emphasized the importance of early intervention. Although schools are doing more to help students, your role as a parent is crucial, and it's never too early to start having a conversation about bullying. Over the past two years, teachers and parents across the nation have used Stand Tall, a book with DVD that I developed to give educators, parents, and young kids the skills to speak up about bullying. Here are three research-based strategies outlined in the book that can help kids tackle bullying in ways that are safe and constructive.

Teach Kids to Always Respect Others

A strong sense of self-respect, combined with a basic respect for others, can help your child avoid and prevent bullying. Help your child build that strong combination by:

Playing the "I Am Someone Who...." Game. You and your child first take turns completing the sentence by focusing on fun personal traits such as "I am someone who...loves music" or "I am someone who...takes care of my little sister." Then, come up with something no one else can say, like: "I am someone who...is named after a river." This game teaches kids to value their unique traits and builds self-confidence and a positive attitude about differences.

Reading Affirmative Books. Read books with encouraging messages about difference and respect, and then discuss the themes with your child. Some great books that offer perspectives on being an outsider include: One of Us by Peggy Moss, about a new girl at elementary school who finds a diverse group of friends; Who Belongs Here? by Margy Burns Knight, about a Cambodian refugee, which teaches the message that we all come from somewhere else; and How We Are Smart by W. Nikola-Lisa, about the many ways 12 different notable people found success.

Being a Positive Role Model. Actions speak louder than words, so your child's observations of what you do are more important than what you might say. Always say "please" and "thank you" and be friendly to people of various backgrounds. "Punctuate the positive," says Jane Conoley, Ph.D., dean and professor of the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, University of California Santa Barbara, by focusing on and reinforcing affirmative behaviors.

Discuss Ways to Prevent Bullying

Brainstorm solutions to stop bullying before it happens or escalates. Develop and prepare a toolkit of ideas for kids to use in tough situations when it can be hard for them to think straight.

Create a List of Responses. Practice phrases your child can use to tell someone to stop bullying behavior. These should be simple and direct, but not antagonistic: "Leave me alone." "Back off." "That wasn't nice." "I'm going to tell your mother." "Don't do that."

Role-play "What If" Scenarios. Role-playing is a terrific way to build confidence and empower your child to deal with challenges. You can role-play the bully while your child practices different responses until she feels confident handling troublesome situations.

Keep an Open Line of Communication. Check in with your kids every day about how things are going at school. Use a calm, friendly tone and create a nurturing climate so he isn't afraid to tell you if something's wrong. Emphasize that his safety and well-being is important, and that he should always talk to an adult about any problems.

Take Action to Stop the Bullying

Help your child learn how to make smart choices and take action when they feel hurt or see another child being bullied.

Encourage Your Child to Be an Upstander. Being an upstander (and not a passive bystander) means a child takes positive action when she sees a friend or another student being bullied. Ask your child how it feels to have someone stand up for her, and share how one person can make a difference. "When it's the kids who speak up, it's ten times more powerful than anything that we'll ever be able to do as an adult," says Walter Roberts, a professor of counselor education at Minnesota State University, Mankato and author of Working With Parents of Bullies and Victims.

Report Repeated, Severe Bullying. If your child is reluctant to report the bullying, go with him to talk to a teacher, guidance counselor, principal, or school administrator. Learn about the school's policy on bullying, document instances of bullying and keep records, and stay on top of the situation by following up with the school to see what actions are being taken. When necessary, get help from others outside of school, like a family therapist or a police officer, and take advantage of community resources that can deal with and stop bullying.

Suzanne Peck is filmmaker and author of STAND TALL: Lessons That Teach Respect and Prevent Bullying, www.corwin.com/standtall. She has decades of experience as a teacher, trainer, and mom.
Copyright © 2014 Meredith Corporation.

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Is your child being bullied at school? In a Harris Poll from February 2014, 60 percent of respondents said they or someone they know have been or are now being bullied in school. A groundbreaking new study on peer victimization among tweens and teens, published in the March 2014 issue of Pediatrics, associated bullying with worsening physical and psychological health, depression, and self-worth over time.

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Bullying Statistics - Anti-Bullying Help, Facts, and More.

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BullyingStatistics.org is part of the Teen Help family. Get info & facts on bullying. Prevent cyberbullying, workplace, school and child or teen bullying today.

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Bullying at school

Bullying can be devastating for children's confidence and self-esteem.

If your child is being bullied, she needs lots of guidance, love and support, both at home and wherever the bullying is happening. Your child also needs to know that you'll take action to prevent any further bullying.

Talking with your child about the bullying

If your child is being bullied, one of the best ways to help him is to listen and talk about the bullying. It's also a good way to find out more before you talk to the teacher about it.

Here's how to get started:

Listen: give your child your full attention and consider talking in a quiet space. Ask your child simple questions, then listen to the answers. Try saying things like, 'So what happened next?' and 'What did you do then?'

Stay calm: this is a chance to show your child how to solve problems. If you feel angry or anxious, wait until you feel calm before you discuss the situation with your child or with others.

Summarise the problem: you could say something like, 'So you were sitting on your own eating your lunch. Then Sam came up and took your lunch box and threw it across the playground'.

Let your child know it's normal to feel upset: help your child to understand that her feelings are normal. For example, 'No wonder you're feeling so sad about this'.

Make sure your child knows it's not his fault: for example, 'It didn't happen because you wear glasses. Jo might have been upset about something happening at home. But that's no excuse for it.'

The next step is showing your child that you care and will help:

Agree that there's a problem: for example, 'It's not OK for someone to treat you like that'.

Praise your child: telling you about the bullying might not have been easy for your child. Praise will encourage her to keep sharing problems with you. For example, 'I'm really pleased that you've told me about this'.

Make it clear that you'll help: for example, 'It sounds like things haven't been so good. Let's think about some things we could do to make it better'.

Avoid negative comments: it won't help to say things like, 'You need to stand up for yourself' or 'You poor thing. Never mind, you can stay home'.

And if your child understands why some children bully, it might help him realise the situation isn't his fault. For example, you could tell your child that the bully might:

be copying other people, and not know that bullying is wrong

not know how to be nice to other people

have a problem and think that making other people feel bad will make things better.

Working with your child's teacher to sort out the bullying

If your child is being bullied, get the help of your child's teacher and school as quickly as you can.

Schools take bullying extremely seriously, and all Australian schools have policies related to bullying. Your school will assess the situation with you. Schools will always focus first on protecting the victim.

Your first step is talking with your child's classroom teacher. Your child's teacher will be trained in spotting and handling bullying and can work with you to prevent further bullying.

Also, your child needs to know that you're working on the problem, so make sure that you tell her you'll talk to the teacher about it.

Here's how to work with your child's classroom teacher to stop bullying:

Make a time to speak privately with the teacher.

Calmly present your concerns as a joint issue for you both to deal with. For example, 'Sam says Tyler is hitting him at lunch time, calling him names and telling the other kids not to play with him. I'd like your help to find out what's happening and what we can do about it'.

Discuss the problem with the teacher. Ask for the teacher's views. You could also ask for a copy of the school's anti-bullying policies and procedures.

Be assertive, not angry or accusatory. For example, 'Yes, children do tease sometimes. But I don't agree this was just teasing. I think it's more serious'.

End the meeting with a plan for how the situation will be managed. For example, 'You're going to talk to the other teachers about this so they can watch the children carefully in the playground at lunch time. And we're going to talk again next week'.

Keep in touch with the teacher.

What if your child doesn't want you to talk with the teacher?
Your child might not want you to talk to the teacher. Your child might be embarrassed or worried that it will make the bullying worse.

It's important to listen to your child's concerns and see whether there's anything you can do to make her less worried. For example, you might be able to make an appointment at the school at a time when other students are less likely to notice.

But in the end, you're the best person to decide what's in your child's best interests, even if that means involving the teacher against his wishes.

Contacting the bully or the bully's parents directly is likely to make the situation worse. It's always safer and more productive to work with the school (or any other organisation where bullying is happening) than to try to solve bullying on your own.

If the bullying doesn't stop

If the bullying doesn't stop even after you've spoken to the classroom teacher, it's still safest to work through the school.

Here are some further steps you can take:

Keep a record of what happens and when. If the bullying involves physical harm or damage to your child's property, you could also take photos. If it involves cyberbullying, take screenshots of the social media posts or text messages.

Write a note to the classroom teacher saying that the bullying is still going on. Ask for your concern to be addressed in writing.

Speak to the school principal.

Ask to see the school's grievance procedure.

Request a meeting to discuss the matter with the school board.

Seek further advice from your school's regional office.

It takes time to change behaviour, so you might not see overnight results.

If your child is still being bullied and you don't think the school is doing enough to stop it, you might need to consider looking for another school with a better record of addressing bullying. If the bullying behaviour is extreme, there might also be reasons to look for help outside the school system.

Support outside the school system
If the bullying is violent, if criminal offences have occurred, or if you think the school has treated you unfairly or unreasonably, you might consider some of these options:

Seek legal advice.

Tell the police.

Apply to the Children's Court for a restraining order against the bully.

Contact the education department or your state or territory ombudsman to make a complaint.

What your child can do to cope with bullying

If your child is being bullied, you should always step in. But your child can also learn ways to cope with the bullying when it's happening. This can help her to handle any future bullying or negative social behaviour. It will also help your child feel more confident and less powerless about being bullied.

Here are some ideas, along with ways to explain the ideas to your child:

Ignore it and think about moving away if the bullying continues: 'You physically move away from children who are teasing or bullying'.

Tell the bully to stop: 'Standing up to bullies in a calm way lets them know that what they're trying to do isn't working'.

Avoid high-risk places: 'If you keep away from places where bullying happens, you can avoid bullies - as long as this doesn't stop you from doing things you like to do'.

Stay around other people: 'If you stay with your friends, the bully probably won't bother you. Or you could stay in a busier part of the school where there are teachers'.

Ask other children for help: 'Other children probably understand what you're going through and can help you if you need it. Bullies are less likely to strike if they can see that you have backup'.

Tell the teacher: 'Your teacher can help you deal with the problem. The bully might not even know that the teacher is helping you. Bullying can be hard to handle, and grown-ups are there to help'.

You could also talk with your child about the best strategy for his situation. For example, if a bully is calling your child names, your child might tell the bully to stop. But if the bully is being physically violent, it might be best to tell a teacher.

Supporting your child at home

At home your child needs lots of support and love while you and the classroom teacher work on stopping the bullying at school.

You could aim to have a time each day when you chat with your child about the good and bad parts of her day. Rather than always asking about bullying, you can ask more general questions like 'What was the most fun part of your day?'

Sometimes professional support might help your child deal with bullying. You could talk to your GP or the school counsellor for more information.

What if your child is the one doing the bullying? It can be hard to understand and accept, but there are things you can do if your child is bullying others.

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Bullying at school: helping your child | Raising Children Network

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Bullying can be devastating for children's confidence and self-esteem. If your child is being bullied, she needs lots of guidance, love and support, both at home and wherever the bullying is happening. Your child also needs to know that you'll take action to prevent any further bullying.

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Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place over digital devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets. Cyberbullying can occur through SMS, Text, and apps, or online in social media, forums, or gaming where people can view, participate in, or share content. Cyberbullying includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. It can include sharing personal or private information about someone else causing embarrassment or humiliation. Some cyberbullying crosses the line into unlawful or criminal behavior.

The most common places where cyberbullying occurs are:

Social Media, such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tik Tok

Text messaging and messaging apps on mobile or tablet devices

Instant messaging, direct messaging, and online chatting over the internet

Online forums, chat rooms, and message boards, such as Reddit

Email

Online gaming communities

Special Concerns

With the prevalence of social media and digital forums, comments, photos, posts, and content shared by individuals can often be viewed by strangers as well as acquaintances. The content an individual shares online - both their personal content as well as any negative, mean, or hurtful content - creates a kind of permanent public record of their views, activities, and behavior. This public record can be thought of as an online reputation, which may be accessible to schools, employers, colleges, clubs, and others who may be researching an individual now or in the future. Cyberbullying can harm the online reputations of everyone involved - not just the person being bullied, but those doing the bullying or participating in it. Cyberbullying has unique concerns in that it can be:

Persistent - Digital devices offer an ability to immediately and continuously communicate 24 hours a day, so it can be difficult for children experiencing cyberbullying to find relief.

Permanent - Most information communicated electronically is permanent and public, if not reported and removed. A negative online reputation, including for those who bully, can impact college admissions, employment, and other areas of life.

Hard to Notice - Because teachers and parents may not overhear or see cyberbullying taking place, it is harder to recognize.

Laws and Sanctions

All states have laws requiring schools to respond to bullying. As cyberbullying has become more prevalent with the use of technology, many states now include cyberbullying, or mention cyberbullying offenses, under these laws. Schools may take action either as required by law, or with local or school policies that allow them to discipline or take other action. Some states also have provisions to address bullying if it affects school performance. You can learn about the laws and policies in each state, including if they cover cyberbullying.

Frequency of Cyberbullying

There are two sources of federally collected data on youth bullying:

The 2017 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey (National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Justice) indicates that, among students ages 12-18 who reported being bullied at school during the school year, 15% were bullied online or by text.

The 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) indicates that an estimated 15.7% of high school students were electronically bullied in the 12 months prior to the survey.

See also " Frequency of Bullying."

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Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place over digital devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets. Cyberbullying can occur through SMS, Text, and apps, or online in social media, forums, or gaming where people can view, participate in, or share content. Cyberbullying includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else.

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We have tons of free, quality resources for Educators, Parents, and Youth for you to download and check out.

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What Is Cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is when someone uses technology to harass, threaten, embarrass, or target another person. It happens on devices like smartphones, computers, tablets, and gaming systems. Cyberbullying hurts people, and in some cases is against the law.

Sometimes cyberbullying can be easy to spot - for example, if your child shows you a text, comment, or post that is harsh, mean, or cruel. Other acts are less obvious, like posting someone's personal information, or using photos or videos that hurt or embarrass another person. Someone might make a fake account or screen name to harass and bully, so you don't know who the bully is.

What Are the Effects of Cyberbullying?

Kids have almost constant access to their devices, so cyberbullying is hard to escape. Kids and teens can feel like they never get a break and feel the effects very strongly.

Kids who are cyberbullied can struggle to concentrate in school, which can affect how well they do there. Cyberbullying that is severe, long-lasting, or happens a lot can cause anxiety, depression, and other stress-related disorders in victims and bullies. In rare cases, some kids have attempted or died from suicide.

Cyberbullies also can be suspended or expelled from school or kicked off of sports teams. Depending on the severity of the cyberbullying, kids also might be in legal trouble.

What Are the Signs of Cyberbullying?

Many kids and teens who are cyberbullied don't want to tell a teacher, parent, or trusted adults, often because they feel ashamed or fear that their devices will be taken away at home.

Signs of cyberbullying vary, but may include:

being emotionally upset during or after using the Internet or the phone

being very secretive or protective of one's digital life

spending more time than usual in their room

withdrawal from or lack of interest in family members, friends, and activities

avoiding school or group gatherings

slipping grades and "acting out" in anger at home

changes in mood, behavior, sleep, or appetite

suddenly wanting to stop using the computer or device

being nervous or jumpy when getting a message, text, or email

avoiding discussions about computer or phone activities

How Can Parents Help?

If your child is being cyberbullied

Offer comfort and support. Talking about any bullying experiences you had in your childhood might help your child feel less alone.

Let your child know that it's not their fault. Bullying says more about the bully than the victim. Praise your child for doing the right thing by talking to you about it. Remind your child you're in this together. Reassure your child that you'll figure out what to do.

Notify the school. Tell the principal, school nurse, or a counselor or teacher about the situation. Many schools, school districts, and after-school clubs have rules for responding to cyberbullying. These vary by district and state. But before reporting the problem, let your child know that you plan to do so, so that you can work out a plan that makes you both feel comfortable.

Encourage your child not to respond to cyberbullying. Doing so just makes the situation worse.

Keep records. Keep screen shots of the threatening messages, pictures, and texts. These can be used as evidence with the bully's parents, school, employer, or even the police.

Get help. If your child agrees, meeting with a therapist may help work through feelings. A counselor or mediator at school may work with your child alone or together with the bully.

Other things that may prevent future cyberbullying:

Block the bully. Most devices have settings that let you electronically block emails, messages, or texts from specific people.

Limit access to technology. Although it is hurtful, many kids who are bullied can't resist the temptation to check websites or phones to see if there are new messages. Keep the computer in a public place in the house and put limits on the use of cellphones and games. You might be able to turn off text messaging services during certain hours, and most websites, apps, and smartphones include parental control options that give parents access to their kids' messages and online life.

Consider monitoring your child's social media use. Programs and apps are available that can monitor kids' social media accounts and alert parents to any inappropriate language or photos. Some can give detailed reports of a child's browsing history and tell a parent how much time they spent online and on each site. Consider your child's age and digital behavior when deciding whether to monitor devices. Then, if you choose to monitor, talk to them about it and explain why it's important.

Know what sites your child uses. This is your chance to encourage kids and teens to teach you about something they know well - technology! This shows your child that you are interested in how they spend their time online, while helping you understand how to best monitor their online safety.

Be part of your kids' online world. Ask to "friend" or "follow" your child on social media sites, but do not abuse this privilege by commenting or posting anything to your child's profile. Check their postings and the sites kids visit, and be aware of how they spend their time online.

Put it in writing. Write smartphone and social media contracts for your kids that you're willing to enforce.

What Else Should I Know?

What if it's your kid who's behaving badly? While that can be upsetting, it's important to deal with the problem and not expect it to go away. No matter what's causing the bullying, tell your child that it's unacceptable. Set and enforce consequences if it continues. If needed, talk with teachers, guidance counselors, and others who might be able to help.

As always, be a role model for your kids. Help them understand the benefits and dangers of the digital world. If you don't get upset and use angry words in your own posts and replies, they're less likely to. Talk about healthy ways to respond - or not - when you disagree with others.

You can learn more about how to stop bullying at Stopbullying.gov.

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Cyberbullying is the use of technology to harass, threaten, embarrass or target another person. Here are some suggestions on what to do if online bullying has become part of your child's life.

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Learn about cyberbullying and online abuse. We answer all your tough cyberbullying questions and offer advice and resources for navigating online harassment.

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Affronted by cyberspace's escalation of adolescent viciousness, many parents are looking to schools for justice, protection, even revenge. But many educators feel unprepared or unwilling to be prosecutors and judges.

Often, school district discipline codes say little about educators' authority over student cellphones, home computers and off-campus speech. Reluctant to assert an authority they are not sure they have, educators can appear indifferent to parents frantic with worry, alarmed by recent adolescent suicides linked to bullying.

Whether resolving such conflicts should be the responsibility of the family, the police or the schools remains an open question, evolving along with definitions of cyberbullying itself.

Nonetheless, administrators who decide they should help their cornered students often face daunting pragmatic and legal constraints.

"I have parents who thank me for getting involved," said Mike Rafferty, the middle school principal in Old Saybrook, Conn., "and parents who say, 'It didn't happen on school property, stay out of my life.' "

According to the Anti-Defamation League, although 44 states have bullying statutes, fewer than half offer guidance about whether schools may intervene in bullying involving "electronic communication," which almost always occurs outside of school and most severely on weekends, when children have more free time to socialize online.

A few states say that school conduct codes must explicitly prohibit off-campus cyberbullying; others imply it; still others explicitly exclude it. Some states say that local districts should develop cyberbullying prevention programs but the states did not address the question of discipline.

Judges are flummoxed, too, as they wrestle with new questions about protections on student speech and school searches. Can a student be suspended for posting a video on YouTube that cruelly demeans another student? Can a principal search a cellphone, much like a locker or a backpack?

It's unclear. These issues have begun their slow climb through state and federal courts, but so far, rulings have been contradictory, and much is still to be determined.
The Cyberdetectives
Benjamin Franklin Middle School conveys an earnest sweetness associated with an earlier era. Its 700 students attend classes in a low-slung building from the mid-'50s, complete with a bomb shelter and generous, shaded playing fields.

During cafeteria lunch duty, a guidance counselor runs a foosball tournament, attracting a throng of laughing, shouting boys. This year's school musical: "Guys and Dolls."

For all its charms, Benjamin Franklin, a sixth-through-eighth-grade school in a wealthy New Jersey suburb, also lives bluntly in the present. A sixth-grade girl dashes to class, wearing a turquoise T-shirt with bold sequined letters: "Texting Is My Favorite Subject." The seventh-grade guidance counselor says she can spend up to three-fourths of her time mediating conflicts that began online or through text messages.

In April, the burden of resolving these disputes had become so onerous that the principal, Mr. Orsini, sent an exasperated e-mail message to parents that made national news:

"There is absolutely NO reason for any middle school student to be part of a social networking site," he wrote. If children were attacked through sites or texting, he added, "IMMEDIATELY GO TO THE POLICE!" That was not the response that the parents of the girl who had received the foul messages had wanted to hear.

Mr. Orsini sighed, relenting. After all, the texts were angry and obscene, the parents horrified, the girl badly rattled.

"We can certainly talk to the boy," the principal said.

Investigating a complaint can be like stumbling into a sinkhole. Over the next few days, an assistant principal, Greg Wu; Mr. Orsini; a guidance counselor; a social worker and an elementary school principal were pulled into this one:

The sixth graders had "dated" for a week, before the girl broke it off. The texts she received that Saturday night were successively more sneering, graphic and intimidating.

But the exchanges shown to Mr. Orsini were incomplete. Before handing her phone to her parents, the girl erased her replies.

The boy claimed he was innocent, telling Mr. Wu he had lost his cellphone that Saturday. "Yeah, right," said Mr. Wu.

The boy insisted he had dropped it while riding his bicycle that April afternoon with his brother and his brother's friend, both fifth graders.

By Wednesday, the girl's father called Mr. Orsini. "How is this boy still in school, near my daughter? Why can't you suspend him?"

The boy was a poor student in language arts classes, yet the text messages were reasonably grammatical. Mr. Wu dictated a basic sentence for the boy to write down. It was riddled with errors.

Next, an elementary school principal interviewed the fifth-grade boys separately.

By Thursday, Mr. Orsini telephoned the girl's parents with his unsettling conclusion:

The boy had never sent the texts. The lost phone had been found by someone else and used to send the messages. Who wrote them? A reference or two might suggest another sixth grader.

The identity would remain unknown.

Mr. Orsini told the girl's shaken parents that, aside from offering her counseling, the school, which had already devoted 10 hours to the episode, could do no more. "They were still in so much pain," Mr. Orsini said. "They wanted us to keep investigating."
Middle School Misery
Meredith Wearley, Benjamin Franklin's seventh-grade guidance counselor, was overwhelmed this spring by dramas created on the Web: The text spats that zapped new best friendships; secrets told in confidence, then broadcast on Facebook; bullied girls and boys, retaliating online.

"In seventh grade, the girls are trying to figure out where they fit in," Mrs. Wearley said. "They have found friends but they keep regrouping. And the technology makes it harder for them to understand what's a real friendship."

Because students prefer to use their phones for texting rather than talking, Mrs. Wearley added, they often miss cues about tone of voice. Misunderstandings proliferate: a crass joke can read as a withering attack; did that text have a buried subtext?

The girls come into her office, depressed, weeping, astonished, betrayed.

"A girl will get mad because her friend was friends with another girl," Mrs. Wearley said.

They show Mrs. Wearley reams of texts, the nastiness accelerating precipitously. "I've had to bring down five girls to my office to sort things out," she said. "It's middle school."

Recently, between classes, several eighth-grade girls from Benjamin Franklin reflected about their cyberdramas:

"We had so many fights in seventh grade," one girl said. "None of them were face-to-face. We were too afraid. Besides, it's easier to say 'sorry' over a text."

Another concurred. "It's easier to fight online, because you feel more brave and in control," she said. "On Facebook, you can be as mean as you want."

Studies show that online harassment can begin in fourth grade. By high school, students inclined to be cruel in cyberspace are more technologically sophisticated, more capable of hiding their prints. But that is also when older students may be more resilient:

"By high school, youths are developing more self-confidence, engaged in extracurricular activities and focusing on the future," said Sameer Hinduja, a professor at Florida Atlantic University and an author of "Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard."

"Their identity and self-worth come from external things that don't revolve around social relationships."

But during middle school, he said, "Peer perception largely dictates their self-worth." With their erupting skin and morphing bodies, many seventh-grade students have a hard enough time just walking through the school doors. When dozens of kids vote online, which is not uncommon, about whether a student is fat or stupid or gay, the impact can be devastating.

While research shows that traditional at-school bullying is far more pervasive than cyberbullying, each type of hostility can now blur and bleed into the other. Jeff Taylor, principal of Frank Lloyd Wright Intermediate School in West Allis, Wis., wades into cyber-related conflicts at school several times each week.

Recently, a seventh-grade girl held a weekend birthday party and her jealous former friend showed up. By Tuesday night, the uninvited guest had insulted the birthday girl's dress on Facebook, calling it and the girl's mother cheap. The remarks were particularly wounding, because the birthday girl's family is not well-off.

By Wednesday, Mr. Taylor said, "There were rumblings about it in the cafeteria. When kids start posturing and switching lunch tables, you can tell." He and an assistant tried to calm them.

But the posturing continued online. A confrontation at school was planned, and the details were texted. On Friday, during the four minutes between seventh-grade lunch and the next period, 20 girls showed up in a hallway and began shrieking.

At least four adults pulled the girls apart and talked them down.

"We must have spent five or six hours on this, throughout the week," Mr. Taylor said. "We got to the bottom of that pain and rejection. I don't consider it a waste of time. But at 3:03 those buses were pulling out and you know that as soon as the girls got home, they'd be blasting away about it on Facebook."

Though resolving cyberwars can be slippery and time-consuming, some schools would like students to report them at the outset, before they intensify. But experts on adolescence note that teenagers are loath to tell adults much of anything.

Some students think they can handle the ridicule themselves. Or are just too embarrassed to speak up. Others fear that parents will overreact.

If the child is texting at school or has a Facebook page without permission, "and now they're being bullied on it," said Parry Aftab, executive director of WiredSafety.org, "they can't admit it to parents. The parents will take away the technology and the kids are afraid of that. Or the parents will underreact. They'll say: 'Why read it? Just turn it off!' "

The most threatening impediment to coming forward can be the cyberbully's revenge. Graffiti on a cyberwall can't be blacked out with a Sharpie.

Mindful of risks to students who report bullies, some school districts have created anonymous tip sites. At Benjamin Franklin, the staff has many ways to give students cover.

"When girls ask their friends, 'What were you doing in the guidance counselor's office?' " Mrs. Wearley said, "I tell them, just say 'Mrs. Wearley was fixing my schedule.' "
The Legal Battles
Tony Orsini, the Ridgewood principal, learned about a devastating Facebook group last November, two months after it started.

"I had a 45-year-old father crying in my office," Mr. Orsini said. "He kept asking, 'Why would someone do this to my son?' "

A Facebook page had sprung up about the man's son, who was new in town. The comments included ethnic slurs, snickers about his sexuality and an excruciating nickname. In short order, nearly 50 children piled on, many of them readily identifiable. "Kids deal with meanness all the time and many can handle it," said Mr. Orsini, 38, a father of two children. "But it never lasts as long as it does now, online."

The boy could not escape the nickname. At soccer and basketball games around town, opposing players he'd never met would hoot: "Oh, you're that kid."

The boy began missing school. He became ill. After weeks, he reluctantly told his parents.

"We don't always get to address these problems until the damage is done," Mr. Orsini said.

Because the comments had been made online and off-campus, Mr. Orsini believed that his ability to intervene was limited.

Rulings in a handful of related cases around the country give mixed signals.

A few families have successfully sued schools for failing to protect their children from bullies. But when the Beverly Vista School in Beverly Hills, Calif., disciplined Evan S. Cohen's eighth-grade daughter for cyberbullying, he took on the school district.

After school one day in May 2008, Mr. Cohen's daughter, known in court papers as J. C., videotaped friends at a cafe, egging them on as they laughed and made mean-spirited, sexual comments about another eighth-grade girl, C. C., calling her "ugly," "spoiled," a "brat" and a "slut."

J. C. posted the video on YouTube. The next day, the school suspended her for two days.

"What incensed me," said Mr. Cohen, a music industry lawyer in Los Angeles, "was that these people were going to suspend my daughter for something that happened outside of school." On behalf of his daughter, he sued.

Last November, Judge Stephen V. Wilson of Federal District Court found that the off-campus video could be linked to the school: J. C. told perhaps 10 students about it; the humiliated C. C. and her mother showed it to school officials; educators watched it and investigated.

But the legal test, he wrote in his 57-page decision, was whether J. C.'s video had caused the school "substantial" disruption. Judge Wilson ruled in favor of the young videographer, because the disruption was only minimal: administrators dealt with the matter quietly and before lunch recess.

This legal test comes from a 1969 Supreme Court case, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, in which a school suspended students for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War.

The court overturned the suspension, but crafted a balance between a school's authority and a student's freedom of expression. When a student's speech interferes substantially with the school's educational mission, a school can impose discipline.

The district had to pay J. C.'s costs and lawyers' fees: $107,150.80.

Judge Wilson also threw in an aside that summarizes the conundrum that is adolescent development, acceptable civility and school authority.

The good intentions of the school notwithstanding, he wrote, it cannot discipline a student for speech, "simply because young persons are unpredictable or immature, or because, in general, teenagers are emotionally fragile and may often fight over hurtful comments."

The lesson Mr. Cohen hopes his daughter learns from the case is about the limits on governmental intrusion. "A girl came to school who was upset by something she saw on the Internet," Mr. Cohen said in a telephone interview, "and these people had in their mind that they were going to do something about it. The school doesn't have that kind of power. It's up to the parents to discipline their child."

He did chastise his daughter, saying, "That wasn't a nice thing to do."

He describes her video as "relentlessly juvenile," but not an example of cyberbullying, which he said he did not condone. His daughter offered to remove it from YouTube. But Mr. Cohen keeps it posted, he said, "as a public service" so viewers can see "what kids get suspended for in Beverly Hills."

The J. C. decision has ignited debate. Nancy Willard, an Oregon lawyer who consults with schools, said that the judge could have applied another, rarely cited prong of the Tinker standard: whether the student's hurtful speech collided with "the rights of other students to be secure."

The Supreme Court has not yet addressed online student speech. Lower-court judges in some districts have sided with schools that have disciplined students for posting threatening videos about educators from their home computers.

In two recent cases, students were suspended for posting parodies of their principals. Each case reached the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. But one three-judge panel sided with a school for disciplining a student whose site suggested the principal was a pedophile; another panel sided with its case's student, whose site suggested the principal used steroids and smoked marijuana. To resolve the contradictory rulings, both cases were re-argued earlier this month before 14 judges on the Third Circuit, whose jurisdiction includes New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and the United States Virgin Islands.

Nationwide, principals have responded to students who demean others online in dramatically different ways.

In January, 28 Seattle middle school students who wrote noxious comments on Facebook about one student received suspensions. The school also held assemblies about digital citizenship.

But when the mother of a seventh-grade boy in Fairfax County, Va., who requested anonymity to protect her son's identity, sent his principal the savage e-mail messages and Facebook jeers that six boys posted about her son, the principal wrote back that although the material was unacceptable, "From a school perspective this is outside the scope of our authority and not something we can monitor or issue consequences for."

Many principals hesitate to act because school discipline codes or state laws do not define cyberbullying. But Bernard James, an education law scholar at Pepperdine University, said that administrators interpreted statutes too narrowly:

"Educators are empowered to maintain safe schools," Professor James said. "The timidity of educators in this context of emerging technology is working to the advantage of bullies."

Whether suspension is appropriate is also under discussion. Elizabeth Englander, a psychology professor at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts and founder of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center, believes that automatic discipline for cyberbullies is wrong-headed.

"We tend to think that if there's no discipline, there's no reaction," she said. "But discipline should never be the only thing we consider in these cases. There are many things we can do with children first to guide and teach them about behavior and expectations."

Tony Orsini wanted to help his middle school student who was being teased mercilessly on Facebook. But he believed he had to catch the bullies at school.

He alerted teachers. At lunch, they spotted the three ringleaders as they forced the boy from their table.

"I called them into my office," Mr. Orsini said, "and talked to them strongly about the lunchroom incident. Then I lied. I said I heard that the cops were looking at a Facebook group they had posted.

"It came down the next day."

He rubbed his face in his hands. "All we are doing is reacting," he said. "We can't seem to get ahead of the curve."
Gathering Evidence
Administrators who investigate students tangled in online disputes often resort to a deft juggle of artfulness, technology and law.

First challenge: getting students to come clean.

Mr. Wu, the assistant principal at Benjamin Franklin, is a former household handyman and English teacher with a fondness for scraps, gadgets and imagination. Hence his lie detector:

It's really an ancient tuner, connected to a helmet labeled "The Anti-Prevaricator" - the inner webbing from a football helmet refurbished by Mr. Wu, who glued on bells and a keypad from an old telephone.

When students balk or obfuscate, Mr. Wu may suggest they don the Anti-Prevaricator. They answer questions; sparks flash from the tuner.

When sixth graders realize the joke, Mr. Wu said, "they start laughing with relief and we talk about the importance of telling the truth."

He continues his cyberinvestigations the old-fashioned way, with conversations, confrontations, cajoling and copious handwritten notes.

But the second challenge is gathering the evidence itself: looking at material typed on personal cellphones or online accounts.

School officials have both greater and lesser investigative authority than the police have over students. Certainly they cannot use lie detectors. But though police officers need probable cause and a warrant to search a student's locker or backpack, school administrators need only "reasonable suspicion" that a school rule has been violated.

The police also need probable cause and a warrant to search social networking sites and cellphones. School officials are uncertain what they need.

"I can't look into Facebook accounts," said Jeff Taylor, the middle school principal from West Allis, Wis. If students or parents want him to see something online, "they have to show it to me or bring me a printout."

But Deb Socia, the principal at Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School in Dorchester, Mass., takes a no-nonsense approach. The school gives each student a laptop to work on. But the students' expectation of privacy is greatly diminished.

"I regularly scan every computer in the building," Ms. Socia said. "They know I'm watching. They're using the cameras on their laptops to check their hair and I send them a message and say: 'You look great! Now go back to work.' It's a powerful way to teach kids: 'I'm paying attention, you need to do what's right.' "

Administrators are skittish about searching cellphones because of the increase in sexting, in which students have sent compromising photos of themselves. Principals fear being caught up in child pornography investigations. In these situations, they generally turn over cellphones to the police.

"The question of searching a cellphone is a gray area," said Mary Ann McAdam, an assistant principal at Governor Livingston High School in Berkeley Heights, N.J. "We only do it when a student says, 'so-and-so sent threatening messages.' Even then, they look through their phones and find it for us. If I felt there might be something on a cellphone, I'd invite parents to go through it with me."

Legal experts disagree on this issue. Professor James argues that cellphones are like backpacks: if the search's purpose is reasonably related to a school infraction, like cheating, the principal's search is legal. Others believe that cellphones belong in another category, protected by electronic communication privacy laws.

While a cellphone search may yield an incriminating text, it may not point to the author.

Last year, an eighth-grade girl at Benjamin Franklin vowed on Facebook that her boyfriend would beat up another eighth grader, a girl she had been bullying throughout middle school. Mr. Orsini called the police.

Mr. Orsini ordered the girls to have no contact at school. Nonetheless, the bullied girl received veiled texted threats at school, sent from a phone owned by a friend of the bully.

"Everyone knows who did it," said Mr. Orsini, looking miserable. "But I couldn't prove who really sent them. So I had to punish the girl whose phone was used. The bully was a masterful manipulator. Her friend took the hit for her."

By now, the targeted girl had become more self-confident. She was furious that the bully escaped punishment. When the bully began picking on a second, weaker girl, she grew further incensed.

One bristling morning, the two girls came to blows, which the bully sorely came to regret. Although teachers quickly broke up the fight, word of the outcome spread more swiftly:

"All the kids chanted the victim's name," Mr. Orsini said, "in triumph in the lunchroom."
The Cybersages
What a difference a few years can make in the life of a tween.

Earlier this month, a proud posse of Benjamin Franklin eighth-grade girls strode into homerooms of sixth graders: inches taller than the 12-year-olds, skin calmer, they radiated a commanding exuberance as they tossed their long, glossy manes. They wanted to offer advice about social networking sites and cyberbullying.

"How many of you have discussed Mr. Orsini's letter with your parents?" asked Annie Thurston, one of the eighth graders, referring to his admonitions about online activity.

Slumped in their desks, at least a dozen students in one class glumly hoisted their hands.

In April, a parent alerted Mr. Orsini about Formspring, a site on which comments can be sent anonymously to mailboxes, and posted at the mailbox owner's discretion. Many adults seem confounded at why girls, in particular, would choose to post the leering, scabrous queries; some teenagers say they do so in order to toss back hard-shelled, tough-girl retorts.

The principal found the names of some Benjamin Franklin students on Formspring. As Mr. Orsini later recounted the experience, he couldn't bring himself to utter even a sanitized version of the obscene posts he had read. His face reddened, tears filling his eyes.

"How does a 13-year-old girl recover her sexual self-esteem after reading that garbage?" he whispered.

It prompted his e-mail message to parents, in which he wrote that no middle school student needed to be on social networking sites. Many parents agreed. But others said that schools and families should work harder to teach students digital responsibility.

These eighth-grade girls thought Mr. Orsini was right: younger students shouldn't be on Facebook.

They grilled the sixth graders, almost all of whom said they had cellphones.

Do your parents read your texts, they asked.

Only a smattering of palms.

"My mom keeps threatening to get software so she can monitor them," one boy said, shrugging his shoulders. "But she never gets around to it."

What impact did Mr. Orsini's letter have?

"I lied to my parents," another boy said. "I told them I deactivated my Facebook page. But in two days, I started it again."

The girls looked solemn.

"If you're under 13, you shouldn't even be on Facebook," said Maeve Cannon, 14. "We think you guys can handle it but you're still really young. It's not that necessary, you know. We just want you to be safe."

The sixth graders were rapt.

"The Internet is a scary place," said Sabrina Spatz, an eighth grader. "It can really hurt you. Our parents didn't grow up with it so they don't really understand it that well."

So if any of the sixth graders were cyberbullied, the older girls said, "Just come talk to us."

Then they hesitated. They were, after all, about to graduate.

"You can tell Mr. Wu, he's awesome!" said Maeve, bubbling over. "Tell your guidance counselor or a teacher." The other girls nodded eagerly.

"Yeah, go to the school," Emily Cerrina chimed in.

"The school will make it stop," she said, "immediately!"

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How Should Schools Handle Cyberbullying?

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Affronted by cyberspace's escalation of adolescent viciousness, many parents are looking to schools for justice, protection, even revenge. But many educators feel unprepared or unwilling to be prosecutors and judges. Often, school district discipline codes say little about educators' authority over student cellphones, home computers and off-campus speech.

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Cutting back on global warming, preventing air and water pollution and saving our energy resources, are the reasons why we should recycle. Factories and industries that produce goods that have become an indispensable part of our lives, add an appalling amount of waste to the environment and recycling seems the only way to save our planet.

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Compelling Reasons Why We Should Recycle

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Cutting back on global warming, preventing air and water pollution and saving our energy resources, are the reasons why we should recycle. Factories and industries that produce goods that have become an indispensable part of our lives, add an appalling amount of waste to the environment and recycling seems the only way to save our planet.

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Why should we recycle? | Recycle for Wales

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Yes, you can! This is true in some cases as there are six different types of plastics and not all of these are currently recyclable. In most cases your council will recycle common household waste items such as plastic bottles, margarine tubs and yoghurt pots. Check with your council first.

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Recycle Across America, Standardized Recycling Labels

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Recycle Across America, Standardized Recycling Labels

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Recycle Across America (RAA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to making it easier for people to recycle right.

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Recycling Facts - A Recycling Revolution

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Recycling facts for folks who thrive on information

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Have you ever played cops and robbers? It's fun pretending to be a cop chasing and capturing a robber. It can be even more fun to be the robber because you take things and try to get away with them before your buddy, the cop, catches you. You're not really stealing, of course. It's just make-believe.

Or maybe you're playing baseball, trying to steal a base and not get tagged out. When playing basketball, you can steal the ball from a player on the other team. A stolen base or a steal on the basketball court can help your team. Hey - it's fair play and it's part of the game!

These are both examples of pretend or imaginary stealing that are OK, but there is another form of stealing that is wrong.

What Kind of Stealing Is Wrong?

When a person takes something that belongs to somebody else without permission, that is stealing. The stolen object can be as small as a piece of candy or as big as a car. It can be taken from someone a person knows or from a stranger. It can be taken from a store, a kind of stealing called shoplifting, or from someone's home. But either way, it's stealing.

People can steal words and ideas, too. For instance, if someone takes your book report and tells the teacher that she - not you - wrote it, that's another form of stealing. Imagine how upset you would be if that happened to you!

Why Do Kids Steal?

Little kids age 4 and younger may not understand that they shouldn't take things that don't belong to them. But by the time you are 5 or 6, you understand what's right and what's wrong. Most school-age kids know that they aren't supposed to take something without asking or without paying for it.

Still, some kids lack self-control. They might see something they want and take it. They don't stop to think first about what might happen. They might not think to buy the object or ask to borrow it. Kids get better at self-control as they grow. Some kids may need extra help learning self-control.

Some kids steal because their friends or family members do it or because they might have been dared. They might believe their friends will like them more if they steal. Doing something for these reasons is called peer pressure, but kids don't have to give in to it.

Some kids steal because they feel something is missing in their lives. What's missing may be love or attention. Or simple things like food and clothing. They may be angry, sad, scared, or jealous. They might steal as a way to deal with the situation. But stealing won't fix what's missing.

Other kids might have personal problems that lead them to steal. They may feel jealous of what others have. They may feel unloved and neglected. Or they may be upset that their parents are arguing or getting divorced. But stealing won't solve these problems.

Other kids don't care about rules. They steal because they think they can get away with it. They may believe they deserve to have the stolen goods. But kids need to learn respect rules and the rights of other people.

What Can Happen if You Steal?

Stealing causes a whole bunch of problems. Suppose a kid sees a pen in a store and decides to take it. If she gets caught, the store owner might say she's not allowed in the store again. The owner might tell her parents. She may have to give money to pay for the pen and the police could be called because stealing (including shoplifting) is a crime. She could be arrested, especially if she has stolen before, and that could lead to more problems. She may have to go to court and may have some sort of punishment, like having to do work in the community to make up for what she has done.

How does stealing make someone feel? Whoever is stealing is probably nervous during the act itself. If a kid gets away with it, he may be relieved at first. Later, he feels lousy because he knows what he did was wrong. He also might be afraid that someone will discover his secret, and he'll want to deny it. But lying will only make matters worse.

Kids who gets caught might be really embarrassed. Then they may be ashamed because they let their family down. They may feel like nobody trusts them anymore. They might feel stupid and worried. What if they go to jail? What if their favorite teacher finds out? What if they loses their friends?

But even when kids don't feel these things, stealing is still wrong. Why? Stealing has serious consequences (say: CON-seh-kwen-sez) because it hurts everyone:

Stealing causes a big problem for a family when the thief is caught.

Store owners have to spend more money to protect their things, which makes prices go up for paying customers.

Kids sometimes don't trust each other with their belongings.

People don't feel as safe when they're worried about someone stealing.

Stealing can even lead to violence. Some kids carry weapons to protect themselves from other kids who may want to take their jewelry or clothing. This can lead to even more problems.

What Should You Do if You Know Someone Who Steals?

If you know someone who steals, you shouldn't just shrug it off. That's like saying stealing is OK. You can tell the person that stealing is wrong or that you're concerned about him, but he may get angry with you. It's a good idea to tell a parent, teacher, counselor, or other adult that you trust. Then leave it up to the adult to decide how to handle the situation.

Don't hang out with kids who steal. It's not smart to go along with someone just because he's your friend or because you don't want to be left out. Follow your conscience (say: CON-shens), and don't do anything that would hurt others. Do what you know is right.

If someone is caught stealing, you could get in trouble just because you were there with him when it happened.

When Stealing Becomes a Habit

Some kids who steal once might do it a second and third time, until it becomes a habit. Repeat stealers often act in other bad ways, too. They may lie, fight, cheat, or write graffiti. They might ignore rules and disrespect other people and their belongings.

But even if stealing has become a habit, kids who steal can change their ways. Kids sometimes make mistakes, but there are ways to get back on the right track. Kids can ask adults to help them. Parents, counselors, and other adults can help kids with troubles that may have led them to steal in the first place. Kids can learn right from wrong, get better at self-control, and learn to solve problems without stealing.

When kids are honest and follow what they know is right, they feel happier and a whole lot better about themselves. Learning how to get what they need - without stealing - can be a big relief.

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Have you ever played cops and robbers? It's fun pretending to be a cop chasing and capturing a robber. It can be even more fun to be the robber because you take things and try to get away with them before your buddy, the cop, catches you. You're not really stealing, of course.

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Why Kids Steal -- and What to Do About It

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Find out why kids steal, and discover how to put an end to a stealing.

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I was recently troubled by some students cheating on my college course exams. Once I became aware of the cheating, I took steps to try to stop it, and I was surprised that a couple of students continued to try to cheat even after I had informed the class of the severe penalties for cheating.

With a 30-plus year teaching career, this wasn't the first time, of course. The worst cheating incident years ago was when fraternity members got together with hand-held copiers to systematically copy a final exam, piece-by-piece, knowing that there was a second final scheduled the next day. Most of the fraternity members planned to take the second final, after they received the stolen exam and had the answers. [When I found out hours after the first exam, I stayed up most of the night making a completely different final exam, and admit that I took some delight in seeing all the puzzled and frightened male faces in the large lecture hall flipping frantically through the pages of a brand new test].

I also read this past week about severe cheating that occurs in on-line college courses - where sophisticated cheaters are able to get As in courses without learning anything at all, simply by figuring out how to beat the testing system. I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised. Research suggests that most of us, if in the right circumstances, would indeed lie, cheat, or steal.

The research of Duke University professor of psychology and behavioral economics, Dan Ariely, sheds some light on why so many students would cheat on exams (and why, if given the opportunity, most of us might do the same, or even steal a little money).
The Matrix Task
In Ariely's studies, research participants are presented with several matrices of math problems to solve, and told to tally the number of correct answers. They then put the test in a shredder (actually the tests are not shredded), and they are asked to report the number of correct answers, receiving a cash award for each correctly solved matrix. Ariely's results show that most people cheat a little bit - overreporting slightly the number of matrices they solved correctly. A few people grossly cheat, and only a few people are completely honest.

Ariely's research goes on to show that the incidence of cheating is not greatly affected by the chances of getting caught, but cheating increases if another participant is seen blatantly cheating - a modeling effect. Contrary to traditional economic models, cheating was unaffected by the size of the monetary award. In fact, when pay for each correct matrix was raised from 50 cents to $10, cheating actually declined! So, people will cheat a little, but not a lot (think of income tax fudging - most only do it a little).
Reasons Why We Cheat, Lie, Steal
Some of the reasons for this bad behavior include rationalization: "they seem to have a lot of money, so a little bit won't matter"; or, my favorite from an on-line college course cheater: "If they [the on-line universities] make it so easy to cheat, then they deserve it."

Other reasons why many people cheat, according to Ariely's and colleagues' research include a culture that condones cheating/stealing, a personal history of dishonest behavior, stealing to benefit others [another form of rationalization], and a lack of supervision or control ("if they don't even care enough to lock their bike, then it's ok to steal it").

So how can we prevent such bad behavior that seems all too common in the general population? Ariely's research has some answers. First, priming people for honesty seems to help. For example, participants who were reminded of an honor code or who reviewed the 10 commandments cheated or stole less. In addition, having people sign at the top of a self-disclosure form ("I certify that everything below is true"), increases honesty as opposed to having them sign at the bottom ("I certify that everything above is true").

This suggests something that I have believed all along: People need to be educated about ethics and honesty. People need to be reminded about the virtue of honesty and constantly encouraged. The importance of honesty, integrity, and good character must be emphasized by parents, teachers, and leaders. As it is, most people find it all too easy to engage in a little lying, cheating, or stealing, and simply rationalize their bad behavior. Constant reminders and positive role models should help.

Here's a Wall Street Journal article summarizing Ariely's work.

Follow me on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/#!/ronriggio

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I recently found some students cheating on my college course exams. I was surprised that a couple of students continued to try to cheat even after I had informed the class of the severe penalties for cheating. Research suggests that most of us, if in the right circumstances, would indeed lie, cheat, or steal.

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Has your child been caught stealing from you or someone else? Have you found him using your credit card for online gaming, taking money from your wallet without asking, or even taking big ticket items from the house? The anger, disappointment, and lack of trust you feel can be destructive for your relationship. Carole Banks, MSW and 1-on-1 Coaching Advisor has some advice.
If your child has been caught stealing, you might have wondered, "Why would my child do this after everything we've taught him?" Many parents question their own abilities and wonder where they've gone wrong with their child when theft is involved. While it's disappointing and frustrating for parents when their child steals, I firmly believe that in most cases, it's a behavior that can be changed.

It's not about you and your parenting-it's about your child and the inappropriate ways he's choosing to solve his problems at the moment.

I think it's also important to understand that there is a big difference between children under the age of 6 taking something compared to older kids who steals. Really young kids don't have a sense of right and wrong about this issue yet; their brains haven't developed enough to think outside of themselves and about others. If your younger child has been taking things, focus on teaching him the skills of sharing, asking for what he would like to have, and taking turns. When your child gets to be a little older, you need to coach him to say, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken that without asking." But you don't want to make him feel like he's a bad person, and don't label it as stealing. Instead, make it clear that taking something without asking is wrong.
Older Kids: Make Sure Crime Doesn't Pay
If your child is nine or older and he's taking things from you or others, you should treat the problem more seriously. As James Lehman says, "Understand that your child is using faulty thinking as a way to solve his problem." The "problem" might be that your ten-year-old wants a new video game, but doesn't have any money. He "solves" it by taking money from your wallet without asking. He's probably thinking, "I need this money. Mom's not even going to notice." When you catch your child using this faulty thinking, you can say, "Just because you want something doesn't mean it's okay to take it without asking." And then ask, "What should you do next time?"

It's important that you don't allow your child to keep what he took; he should never benefit in any way from taking something from someone else. You don't ever want stealing to pay off.

Many parents will call 1-on-1 Coaching when their kids have taken something from a store. They're worried their child will be prosecuted if he takes the shoplifted item back. They decide to give the child a consequence, such as no T.V., but they allow the child to keep the stolen item. It's really best to require your child to take the item back to the store. I understand this can be a complicated decision, depending on the age of your child and where you live. This has to be a choice you make after weighing all possible outcomes. But even if you decide against having your child take it back, make sure he doesn't get off scot-free. Give him consequences at home-and do not let him keep the item. You ultimately want your child to learn that when you harm someone, even if it's the owner of a store, you should make amends directly to that person-which is why the best lesson is for your child to take the item back.When Your Child Uses Your Credit Card
I've talked with many parents whose kids have used their credit card to buy something online-often, they've used it for gaming. Even if the money is gone and cannot be retrieved, don't let your child off the hook. He can make amends by doing something extra around the house to work it off. For example, he can clean out the basement, the garage, or do yard work. The bottom line is that you want to try to teach your child to make amends to the person he's wronged-in this case, you. I also recommend that you call your credit card company and have them notify you if someone tries to use your card for online gaming-or whatever type of site your child was on-in the future. And of course, the game is deleted from the computer so your child doesn't benefit from stealing.
When Your Child Takes Big Ticket Items: Are Drugs Involved?
If your child is taking large amounts of money or big ticket items from your home, I think you need to question why. If you think drugs might be involved, there are probably other signs that are telling you that your child has a problem, like changes in mood or personality. You should definitely look into the possibility that he's taking drugs and rule it out.

If you know your child has a problem but you haven't been able to get him off drugs or into treatment, then consider reporting his thefts to the police to get him into the juvenile justice system. Many states now have drug court, where kids do not have to serve sentences in a juvenile detention center as long as they're in treatment and clean. If you suspect drugs, reporting repetitive theft to the police can be a good course of action.

Here's the truth: a child who is never made to be accountable will never learn from his mistakes. In your own home, have your kids make amends as directly to you or the injured party as possible. This drives home the meaning of what they've actually done, and lets them know that their actions have caused harm to someone.
When Stealing Continues
If your child can't stop stealing, you need to help level the playing field for him by finding out what's causing this to happen over and over. You also might want to secure items in your home and keep your wallet in a safe place at all times until your child can learn how to solve his problems more appropriately.

I want to stress that even if you're worried about your child's character, don't let him think that you feel he's a bad, horrible person. Rather, you need to convey the opposite: that he needs to make amends and do the right thing. You want to say things like, "I know it's hard, but I believe you can do it." When you change your opinion of your child as a person and start thinking that he's "bad" or that there's something wrong with his character, there is great potential to harm the relationship. Your child will sense that you have a poor opinion of him and could start to lose hope in his ability to ever change.

If your child continues to take things from you, you will need to firmly address his faulty thinking. There may be an emotional need or impulsivity that drives his behavior. There are also many people who call the Support Line with adopted kids who steal from their families. Not all adopted kids steal of course, but sometimes kids with traumatic backgrounds may have trouble trusting other people to meet their needs, so they take food and other items and hoard them.
When Your Child Denies the Theft
I often tell parents, "If you know for sure that your child has stolen something, act with that knowledge. Just say, 'I think that you used my credit card because you wanted to download some songs from iTunes. And I'm going to ask you to make amends for that.'" If you don't know for certain and your child denies the theft, then I don't think you can give him a consequence. You don't want to accuse your child of something that he hasn't done, because it can end up really backfiring on you. He may act out just because you believe he's capable of it. Basically, unless you catch your child red-handed, I wouldn't punish him.

I understand that parents feel hurt and betrayed after their child has stolen something. But try not to take the fact that he stole personally. It's not about you and your parenting-it's about your child and the inappropriate ways he's choosing to solve his problems at the moment.

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Kids Stealing from Parents: What to Do | Empowering Parents

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Has your child been caught stealing from you or someone else? Have you found him using your credit card for online gaming, taking money from your wallet without asking, or even taking big ticket items from the house? The anger, disappointment, and lack of trust you feel can be destructive for your relationship.

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No matter the location or scale of deployment, the ASPCA is prepared to take on animal cruelty cases when needed-from assisting initial investigations to securing final placement of rescued animals in homes.

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No matter the location or scale of deployment, the ASPCA is prepared to take on animal cruelty cases when needed-from assisting initial investigations to securing final placement of rescued animals in homes.

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What to know about abuse victims and legislative trends

The shocking number of animal cruelty cases reported every day is just the tip of the iceberg; most cases are never reported. Unlike violent crimes against people, cases of animal abuse are not compiled by state or federal agencies, making it difficult to calculate just how common they are. However, we can use the information that is available to try to understand and prevent cases of abuse.

Who abuses animals?

Cruelty and neglect cross all social and economic boundaries and media reports suggest that animal abuse is common in both rural and urban areas.

Intentional cruelty to animals is strongly correlated with other crimes, including violence against people.[1]

Hoarding behavior often victimizes animals. Sufferers of a hoarding disorder may impose severe neglect on animals by housing far more than they are able to adequately take care of. Serious animal neglect (such as hoarding) is often an indicator of people in need of social or mental health services.[2]

Surveys suggest that those who intentionally abuse animals are predominantly men under 30, while those involved in animal hoarding are more likely to be women over 60.[3]

Most common victims

The animals whose abuse is most often reported are dogs, cats, horses and livestock. Based on the 1,423 U.S. cruelty cases on pet-abuse.com's 2011 digest in which species of the victim was specified:

70.1% involved dogs.

20.9% involved cats.

24.1% involved other animals.

Undercover investigations have revealed that animal abuse abounds in the factory farm industry. But because of the weak protections afforded to livestock under state cruelty laws, only the most shocking cases are reported, and few are ever prosecuted. Find out how you can help protect farm animals here.*

Organized cruelty

Dogfighting, cockfighting and other forms of organized animal cruelty go hand in hand with other crimes, and continues in many areas of the United States due to public corruption.

The HSUS' investigative team combats complacent public officials, and has worked with the FBI on public corruption cases in Tennessee and Virginia. In both instances, law enforcement officers were indicted and convicted.

Correlation with domestic violence

Data on domestic violence and child abuse cases reveal that a staggering number of animals are targeted by those who abuse their children or spouses.

There are approximately 70 million pet dogs and 74.1 million pet cats in the U.S. where 20 men and women are assaulted per minute (an average of around 10 million a year).

In one survey, 71 percent of domestic violence victims reported that their abuser also targeted pets.[4]

In one study of families under investigation for suspected child abuse, researchers found that pet abuse had occurred in 88 percent of the families under supervision for physical abuse of their children[5].

To put a stop to this pattern of violence, the Humane Society Legislative Fund supported the PAWS (Pets and Women's Safety Act), introduced to Congress in 2015 as H.R. 1258 and S.B. 1559 (Humane Society Legislative Fund, 2015). The PAWS act would give victims of domestic abuse means to escape their abusers while keeping their companion animals safe - many victims remain in abusive households for fear of their pets' safety.

State legislative trends

The HSUS has long led the push for stronger animal cruelty laws and provides training for law officials to detect and prosecute these crimes. With South Dakota joining the fight in March of 2014, animal cruelty laws now include felony provisions in all 50 states.*

First vs. subsequent offense

Some state laws only allow felony charges if the perpetrator has a previous animal cruelty conviction. Given that only a fraction of animal cruelty acts are ever reported or successfully prosecuted, The HSUS is committed to supporting felony convictions in cases of egregious cruelty regardless of whether the perpetrator has a prior conviction.

46 of 50 states' felony provisions are first-offense provisions.

Four states (Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa and Mississippi) have laws that apply felony charges only to subsequent offenses.

A majority of anti-cruelty laws are limited to cases involving aggravated cruelty, torture, or cruelty to companion animals.

Improvement is being made in places where it's needed: Ohio HB 60, known as "Goddard's Law," makes cruelty to companion animals a first-offense felony. Goddard's Law was passed by the state's senate - it currently awaits Governor John Kasich's signature.

Changes in federal tracking

On January 1, 2016, the FBI added cruelty to animals as a category in the Uniform Crime Report, a nationwide crime reporting system commonly used in homicide investigations. While only about a third of U.S. communities currently participate in the system, the data generated will help create a clearer picture of animal abuse and guide strategies for intervention and enforcement. Data collection covers four categories: simple/gross neglect, intentional abuse and torture, organized abuse (such as dogfighting and cockfighting) and animal sexual abuse.[12]

Related Reading

Sources

1. Lockwood, R. 2008. "Counting Cruelty: Challenges and Opportunities in Assessing Animal Abuse and Neglect in America." In International Handbook of Theory and Research on Animal Abuse and Cruelty, edited by Frank R. Ascione.

2. Lockwood, R. 2002. "Making the Connection Between Animal Cruelty and Abuse and Neglect of Vulnerable Adults." The Latham Letter 23.

3. DeViney, E. et al. 1983. "The Care of Pets Within Child Abusing Families."International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems 4.

4. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2011. "National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey."

5. Animal Legal Defense Fund. 2015. "Animal Protection Laws of Iowa."

6. Animal Legal Defense Fund. 2015. "Animal Protection Laws of Mississippi."

7. Animal Legal Defense Fund. 2015. "Animal Protection Laws of Ohio."

8. Animal Legal Defense Fund. 2015. "Animal Protection Laws of Pennsylvania."

9. FindLaw. "Texas Penal Code § 42.092. Cruelty to Non-livestock Animals."

10. SPCA of Texas. "Texas Animal Cruelty Laws."

11. Virginia Decoded. "§3.2-6570 Cruelty to animals; penalty."

12. State of Idaho Legislature. "Title 25 Animals; Chapter 35 Animal Care."

13. Federal Bureau of Investigation. 2016. "Tracking Animal Cruelty: FBI Collecting Data on Crimes Against Animals."

Your help makes a difference. Donate today to stop cruelty like this. "

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What to know about abuse victims and legislative trends The shocking number of animal cruelty cases reported every day is just the tip of the iceberg; most cases are never reported. Unlike violent crimes against people, cases of animal abuse are not compiled by state or federal agencies, making it difficult to calculate just how common they are.

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Reasons for Abuse

There are many different reasons why individuals abuse animals. Animal cruelty covers a wide range of actions (or lack of action), so one blanket answer simply isn't possible. Each type of abuse has displayed certain patterns of behavior that we can use to help understand more about why people commit the crimes we encounter today.

Animal cruelty is often broken down into two main categories: active and passive, also referred to as commission and omission, respectively.

In many cases of neglect where an investigator feels that the cruelty occurred as a result of ignorance, they may attempt to educate the pet owner and then revisit the situation to check for improvements. In more severe cases however, exigent circumstances may require that the animal is removed from the site immediately and taken in for urgent medical care.

Active Cruelty (Acts of Commission)

Implies malicious intent, where a person has deliberately and intentionally caused harm to an animal, and is sometimes referred to as NAI (Non-Accidental Injury). Acts of intentional cruelty are often some of the most disturbing and should be considered signs of serious psychological problems. This type of behavior is often associated with sociopathic behavior and should be taken very seriously.

Animal abuse in violent homes can take many forms and can occur for many reasons. Many times a parent or domestic partner who is abusive may kill, or threaten to kill, the household pets to intimidate family members into sexual abuse, to remain silent about previous or current abuse, or simply to psychologically torture the the victims, flexing their "power."

Passive Cruelty (Acts of Omission)

Passive cruelty is typified by cases of neglect, where the crime is a lack of action rather than the action itself - however do not let the terminology fool you. Severe animal neglect can cause incredible pain and suffering to an animal.

Examples of neglect are starvation, dehydration, parasite infestations, allowing a collar to grow into an animal's skin, inadequate shelter in extreme weather conditions, and failure to seek veterinary care when an animal needs medical attention.

If you are aware of any situation of animal abuse or neglect, you must call animal control or local law enforcement. When in doubt, call Wildlife Rescue at 830-336-2725.
This article is reprinted with the permission of Pet-Abuse.com.
Animal Abuse & Pathology

Earl Kenneth Shriner, who raped, stabbed, and mutilated a 7-year-old boy, had been widely known in his neighborhood as the man who put firecrackers in dogs' rectums and strung up cats.

Brenda Spencer, who opened fire at a San Diego school, killing two children and injuring nine others, had repeatedly abused cats and dogs, often by setting their tails on fire.

Albert DeSalvo, the "Boston Strangler" who killed 13 women, trapped dogs and cats in orange crates and shot arrows through the boxes in his youth.

Carroll Edward Cole, executed for five of the 35 murders of which he was accused, said his first act of violence as a child was to strangle a puppy.

In 1987, three Missouri high school students were charged with the beating death of a classmate. They had histories of repeated acts of animal mutilation starting several years earlier. One confessed that he had killed so many cats he'd lost count. Two brothers who murdered their parents had previously told classmates that they had decapitated a cat.

Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer had impaled dogs' heads, frogs, and cats on sticks.

More recently, high school killers such as 15-year-old Kip Kinkel in Springfield, Ore., and Luke Woodham, 16, in Pearl, Miss., tortured animals before embarking on shooting sprees.

Columbine High School students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who shot and killed 12 classmates before turning their guns on themselves, bragged about mutilating animals to their friends.

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There are many different reasons why individuals abuse animals. Animal cruelty covers a wide range of actions (or lack of action), so one blanket answer simply isn't possible. Each type of abuse has displayed certain patterns of behavior that we can use to help understand more about why people commit the crimes we encounter today.

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Annually, there are over 25,000 reports of illegal dumping, littering, scavenging and waste-related violations in the City of San Diego. These reports are investigated by the Department's Solid Waste Code Enforcement team, a group responsible for enforcing the City's solid waste codes. Code Enforcement also provides anti-waste education and organizes more than 70 community cleanup/recycling events around the City each year.

To report illegal dumping, littering, scavenging or other waste-related violations, please complete and submit a Trash/Litter/Recycling or call ESD at 858-694-7000.

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Annually, there are over 25,000 reports of illegal dumping, littering, scavenging and waste-related violations in the City of San Diego. These reports are investigated by the Department's Solid Waste Code Enforcement team, a group responsible for enforcing the City's solid waste codes.

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Remember that old slogan to deter littering: "Don't be a litterbug?" Maybe it should be dusted off.

And post haste.

San Diego is having a problem with littering and illegal dumping, so much that the city is spending an extra $800,000 to combat it. The Environmental Services Department has identified nine problem areas in the city and will step-up cleanup efforts in those spots.

One big question, though: Who actually has the audacity to litter anymore? Isn't that about as socially unacceptable as smoking? Wouldn't anyone doing so, if caught, run the risk of being admonished by an angry mob?

Who still tosses their fast-food trash out of a moving car? (And do these same people also not wear seat belts?) Remember the public service spot with a Native American shedding a tear after seeing someone dump trash out of car window? That TV spot was made in 1971, when littering was increasing because Americans were becoming more car-oriented and disposable packaging - such as styrofoam- was becoming in vogue.

However, littering and illegal dumping are still with us, even in America's Finest City, which has one of the nation's most progressive climate action plans and one of the more aggressive environmental advocacy networks. We have San Diego CoastKeeper, the Surfrider Foundation and I Love a Clean San Diego, among a number of other environmental watchdog groups.

Yet ...

The problem areas identified by the city include Ocean Beach, Point Loma, San Ysidro, City Heights and Paradise Valley. (Yes, Point Loma, where the median home price is $723,000.)

The city will also target combination spots, including Mission Beach/Pacific Beach, Webster/Mountain Hope and the South Bay.

Yes, littering is still a problem, according to Keep America Beautiful, an organization that was founded in 1953 to combat it. It acknowledges that it has decreased, but it has hardly been eradicated.

On its website, it notes: "Over 51 billion pieces of litter appear on U.S. roadways each year." And: "Tobacco products comprise roughly 38% of all U.S. roadway litter."

It's not cheap to cleanup either. Keep America Beautiful estimates that states, cities, and counties together spend $1.3 billion on keeping America beautiful by getting rid of litter.

We have made significant progress, though. Keep America Beautiful notes that in the past 40 years, "visible litter on our nation's roadways has decreased approximately 61%."

The public services campaigns have done much good, but we still have a ways to go. Indeed, nearly 500 volunteers took to some of San Diego's biggest beaches the day after the Fourth of July holiday. And what did they cart away?

About 800 pounds of trash.

On the bright side, the year before, the total was 1,400 pounds.

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Remember that old slogan to deter littering: "Don't be a litterbug?" Maybe it should be dusted off. And post haste. San Diego is having a problem with littering and illegal dumping, so much that the city is spending an extra $800,000 to combat it.

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Why it's so tempting to throw trash on the ground, and how environmentalists are using psychology to change that

Vivian Wagner

Loretta Brown walked along Bishop's Beach near Homer, Alaska, looking for plastic bottles, Styrofoam cups, beer cans, cigarette butts, and old fishing nets.

"You tend to find things among the driftwood, since the same tide that washes up the driftwood washes up the trash," she said, stooping to pick up a plastic water bottle. "It's kind of like an Easter egg hunt."

Brown is a marine debris education and outreach specialist with the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, a nonprofit organization based in Homer that educates the public about coastal issues and offers eco-tours of the region. She also has a keen, experienced eye for litter.

"We're likely to find some up here among the grasses," she said, homing in on small pieces of Styrofoam nestled in clumps of grass among the basalt rocks and clam shells along the beach. "The birds will eat these."

With all of the work she does picking up litter and educating people about the long-term environmental damage it does, Brown has developed some theories about what makes people throw out their trash, and how to get them to stop.

"It probably goes to our roots as a species," she said. "We've always had refuse of some kind. In the beginning, it didn't matter if you threw things on the ground, because it was biodegradable and would rot. It wasn't a problem until plastic was invented."

Recommended Reading

Education, she thinks, is the way to change the culture of littering.

"The best way for people to become engaged and change their behaviors is not just to inform them of the problem, but to have them actively experience the problem," she said. "It's about having the conversation-that really helps. It's a behavioral change."

Despite Alaska's strict anti-littering laws, the state has a serious problem with marine debris because of ocean currents that bring trash from around the world to its shores, according to Julie Decker, director of the Anchorage Museum. In an exhibit called Gyre, the museum puts this trash on display, with artworks that incorporate and call attention to plastic trash collected from beaches worldwide.

The exhibit places litter under museum lights so that people will look at it, talk about it, think about where it came from, and ultimately change their behavior.

"In one moment you understand it," she said. "You see yourself in the problem. You see your own products. You see your own beaches. I wasn't sure what kind of response we'd get, but watching children go through has been one of the most powerful experiences I've had. They leave talking about behavior, talking about what they're going to do."

One of the exhibit's goals, according to Decker, is to start a conversation about why people litter in the first place.

"People want to make it invisible to themselves, to get rid of the trash and the smell," Decker said. "Most people litter when they're not being watched."

Brown's and Decker's hunches about why people litter and what it will take to change their behavior have a basis in social science research, such as that done by Robert Cialdini, emeritus professor of psychology and marketing at Arizona State University and author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.

"One of the things that's fundamental to human nature is that we imitate the actions of those around us," said Cialdini, who has conducted a number of landmark studies in littering and litter prevention-all of them pointing to the fact that people are likely to do what they think is expected of them. It's about norms and expectations, he says: Change these, and you'll change people's behavior.

"It's the idea that look, no one is littering here, so it must not be a legitimate thing to do," Cialdini said. "We take our cues about what to do in a particular setting by what people are doing there already."

Some of Cialdini's litter studies have taken place in parking lots and parking garages, with flyers placed under the windshield wipers of random cars. Unsuspecting subjects return to their cars and researchers observe them, to see what they do with the flyers. Will they throw them on the ground? In study after study, it turns out that cues in their environment are a strong determining factor in what actions people take.

"It depends on what you see immediately before you get to your car," Cialdini said. "If you see a environment that is highly littered, you litter. If there is not litter, you are significantly less likely to litter."

But if there is just one piece of litter in an otherwise litter-free environment, subjects are even less likely to throw their trash on the ground.

"If there is one piece, you are least likely to litter," Cialdini said. "If you see one piece, it reminds you that most people are not littering here. It calls attention to the fact that the majority of people are not littering."

Cialdini's research echoes the " broken windows theory," first introduced in 1982 by social scientists James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling. This theory holds that people are more likely to break windows, write graffiti, or deface an environment if it's already been defaced. One broken window, in other words, leads to more broken windows. And likewise, a littered stretch of beach or highway leads to more littering.

In Cialdini's research, what people see being done around them also affects their actions. Thus, if they see someone throwing a flyer on the ground nearby, they are more likely to throw their own down. And if they see someone reacting disapprovingly to littering, they are less likely to litter themselves.

"The most dramatic results we've gotten are from situations that show people disapproving of littering," Cialdini said. "One study took place in a library parking lot. People left the library, and there was a piece of paper on their windshield. The thing that most affected people was when they saw someone nearby reaching down and picking up a piece of litter with a disapproving look. When they got to their own cars, not one person littered. If they didn't see anyone picking up litter, 33 percent littered. We went from a third of the subjects littering to zero, when they saw an example of someone like them who picked up litter and showed disapproval."

Cialdini argues that the results of his studies demonstrate that people are sensitive to what they see as normal behavior, and they'll change their behavior to adapt to what they see being done around them.

"It all comes down to norms, and you get those cues from the environment," he said. "People litter for reasons of convenience. They don't want this thing. The crucial question is why don't they litter, since the easy thing is to litter. Why would people hold onto a piece of trash? Their attitudes toward the environment make a difference, but what they perceive as the norm is key."

He argues that the classic 1971 Keep America Beautiful television commercial showing a Native American man (who was later revealed to be actually Italian) crying amidst a polluted environment, therefore, was not as effective as it could have been, since it depicted an already trashed landscape. A more effective campaign, he says, would create and enforce a positive norm.

"You need to indicate disapproval of littering in all of your signage, not by saying that there are so many people littering, but by saying that if one person litters, it destroys the beauty of the park," Cialdini said. "Instead of normalizing littering, you need to marginalize it with your message."

Cialdini has recently expanded his research into other areas of environmental persuasion, such as convincing people to reuse hotel towels. He has worked with hotel chains to design signage with messages like "the majority of our guests reuse their towels"-thus creating a norm that people are likely to follow.

"You ask, 'What are people like me doing?'" Cialdini said. "People decide what to do based on what people like them have been doing. If you say, 'The majority of our guests have reused their towels,' you get more compliance than if you say, 'Do it for the environment.'"

Meanwhile, people on the front lines of the litter war are struggling to come up with messages that work. Joel Hunt, a public information officer with the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), admits that despite public relations campaigns, littering in his state remains at an all-time high. According to Hunt, more than 400,000 bags of litter being picked up along Ohio's roadways each year.

ODOT, like other state transportation agencies, is tasked with cleaning up its roadways and partnering with other agencies to educate the public about the problems with littering. A recent public information campaign called "Untrash Ohio," sponsored by Keep Ohio Beautiful, for instance, featured billboards with images like that of someone fishing and reeling in a plastic bottle. And ODOT's adopt-a-highway program-which gives individuals and organizations the opportunity to adopt a section of highway to keep it clean-seeks to create clean roadways so that, ideally, people will be less likely to litter on them.

Hunt says that his agency continues to try to combat the problem of littering, and he hopes that eventually its efforts will pay off.

"It's a $4 million preventable problem," said Hunt. "That money could be used to purchase 28 new snow plow trucks or to repave a 40-mile two-lane road every year."

Instead, Ohio spends that money-and much time and effort-on collecting all the bottles, cans, and other pieces of trash that inevitably end up along its roadways. It's a seemingly endless cycle, but litter research suggests that without these clean-up efforts, the problem would get even worse.

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Why it's so tempting to throw trash on the ground, and how environmentalists are using psychology to change that Loretta Brown walked along Bishop's Beach near Homer, Alaska, looking for plastic bottles, Styrofoam cups, beer cans, cigarette butts, and old fishing nets.

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Litter is more than just a blight on our landscape. Litter is costly to clean up, impacts our quality of life and economic development, and eventually ends up in our waterways and oceans.

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Shoplifting Statistics These statistics are the result of years of research with thousands of shoplifting offenders and are the copyrighted property of NASP. You must be given written permission by NASP to copy, use or redistribute the following information. To Contact NASP click here.