Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Youth who feel connected Help your students feel connected CDC resources for fostering
to their school are less likely to you and their school. For example, school connectedness:
to engage in suicide-related greet them by name every day.
• www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/
behaviors. Ask them how they are doing, etc.
adolescenthealth/
Encourage their extracurricular
connectedness.htm
interests and involvement.
CDC’s Applying Science,
A strong sense of connectedness to Advancing Practice: Preventing
caring, responsible adults at school can Suicide Through Connectedness:
provide invaluable support to youth
who may be struggling socially and/or • www.cdc.gov/
emotionally. ViolencePrevention/pdf/ASAP_
Suicide_Issue3-a.pdf
Youth who are able to cope Teach youth coping/life skills. Focus on Links to evidence-based, social-
with problems in healthy ways positive and empowering messages emotional learning approaches:
and solve problems peacefully that build resilience and acceptance of
are less likely to engage in differences in themselves and others. Good Behavior Game
suicide and bullying related • www.air.org/focus-area/
behaviors. Early training (even starting in education/?type=projects&id
elementary school) for students to help =127
them develop coping and problem-
Steps to Respect: Bullying Prevention
solving skills, build resilience, and
for Elementary School
increase their social intelligence and
• www.cfchildren.org/steps-to-
empathy is important to fostering
respect.aspx
positive mental health and pro-social
behavior.
Youth with disabilities, learning Provide better training for all school Federal resources on responding
differences, sexual/gender staff who work with youth. Teach to bullying:
identity differences or cultural personnel about vulnerable populations
• www.stopbullying.gov/
differences are often most and appropriate ways to intervene in
respond/index.html
vulnerable to being bullied. bullying situations. Understand that
acknowledging risk factors is not the • www.stopbullying.gov/
same as victim blaming. prevention/training-center/
index.html
There are power differences involved
in bullying situations. For this reason, Information on anti-bullying
general conflict resolution methods are policy:
not appropriate or effective. Adopt and • www.afsp.org/advocacy-
implement effective and inclusive anti- public-policy/state-policy/
bullying policies. anti-bullying-and-anti-
cyberbullying-policies
Youth who report frequently Provide support and referrals for all Federal resources on supporting
bullying others are at high, youth involved. Include their families. youth involved in bullying:
long-term risk for suicide-
• www.stopbullying.gov/what-
related behavior. Youth who act out through bullying
is-bullying/roles-kids-play/
others may be trying to fit in and/or
index.html
Youth who report both being reacting to stress, abuse, or other issues
bullied and bullying others at home or school. Bullying behavior • www.stopbullying.gov/
(sometimes referred to as may be an important signal that they respond/support-kids-
bully-victims) have the highest need mental health services and involved/index.html#address
rates of negative mental additional support.
health outcomes, including
• While punishment and appropriate
depression, anxiety, and
consequences are often a necessary
thinking about suicide.
part of a school’s response, we
must move beyond punishment
Youth who report being
and blame to set the tone for
frequently bullied by others
lasting prevention.
are at increased risk of suicide-
related behaviors, and negative • The focus on blame, shame, and
physical and mental health criminalization is divisive and can
outcomes. be a roadblock to getting youth
and families the professional
support that is needed to make a
positive change and prevent future
suffering.
Involvement in bullying in any Empower youth by providing concrete, Federal resources for empowering
way—even as a witness— positive, and proactive ways they can bystanders:
has serious and long-lasting influence the social norms of their peer
• www.stopbullying.gov/what-
negative consequences for group so that bullying is seen as an
is-bullying/roles-kids-play/
youth. uncool behavior.
index.html
Youth who reported witnessing Encourage more work on bystander • www.stopbullying.gov/
bullying had greater feelings approaches to violence prevention in respond/be-more-than-a-
of helplessness and less sense general. bystander/index.html
of connectedness to school
than youth who did not report CDC’s Applying Science,
witnessing bullying. Advancing Practice: The Bully-
Sexual Violence Pathway in Early
Adolescence
• www.cdc.gov/
violenceprevention/pdf/
asap_bullyingsv-a.pdf
Additional Reading
Borowsky IW, Taliaferro LA, McMorris BJ. Suicidal thinking and behavior among youth involved in verbal and
social bullying: Risk and protective factors. Journal of Adolescent Health 2013; 53:S4-S12.
Copeland WE, Wolke D, Angold A, Costello EJ. Adult psychiatric outcomes of bullying and being bullied by
peers in childhood and adolescence. JAMA Psychiatry 2013; 70(4):419-426.
Cadarerelli, N. Bullying and Suicide: Unraveling the Link. A Presentation by the American Foundation for
Suicide Prevention. Retrieved October 21, 2012 from education.state.nm.us.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Connectedness as a strategic direction for the prevention of
suicidal behavior. Retrieved April 29, 2013 from http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/suicide_
strategic_direction-one-pager-a.pdf.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States, 2011. MMWR
Surveillance Summaries 2012; 61(no. SS-4). Available from www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss6104.pdf.
Eisenberg ME, Neurnark-Sztainer D, Perry CL. Peer harassment, school connectedness, and academic
achievement. Journal of School Health 2003; 73(8): 311-316.
Espelage DL, Holt MK. Suicidal ideation and school bullying experiences after controlling for depression and
delinquency. Journal of Adolescent Health 2013; 53:S27-S31.
Farrington DP, Ttofi MM. Bullying as a predictor of offending, violence and later life outcomes. Criminal
Behaviour and Mental Health 2011; 21: 90–98.
Fekkes M, Pijpers F, Fredriks AM, Vogels T, Verloove-Vanhorick SP. Do bullied children get ill, or do ill children
get bullied? A prospective cohort study on the relationship between bullying and health-related
symptoms. Pediatrics 2006; 117:1568-1574.
Glew GM, Fan M, Katon W, Rivara FP, Kernic MA. Bullying, psychosocial adjustment, and academic performance
in elementary school. Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine 2005; 159:1026-1031.
Hatzenbuehler ML, Keyes KM. Inclusive anti-bullying policies and reduced risk of suicide attempts in lesbian
and gay youth. Journal of Adolescent Health 2013; 53:S21-S26.
1-800-CDC-INFO • www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention
04/2014