“Almost 30% of youth in the United States (or over 5.7 million) are estimated to be involved in bullying as either a bully, a target of bullying, or both. In a recent national survey of students in grades 6-10, 13% reported bullying others, 11% reported being the target of bullies, and another 6% said that they bullied others and were bullied themselves. 

Bullying takes on different forms in male and female youth. While both male and female youth say that others bully them by making fun of the way they look or talk, males are more likely to report being hit, slapped, or pushed. Female youth are more likely than males to report being the targets of rumors and sexual comments. While male youth target both boys and girls, female youth most often bully other girls, using more subtle and indirect forms of aggression than boys. For example, instead of physically harming others, they are more likely to spread gossip or encourage others to reject or exclude another girl.” (Source: http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/faq/bullying.asp) 

Martin County 4-H has focused a lot of efforts to combat bullying over the last 5 years. Over 300 4th and 5th graders receive 6 classes per year to help combat bullying. For the last 2 years freshman at Sheldon Clark High School receive 2 lessons per year to become more educated on the issue. 4-H has teamed up with UNITE and Appalachian Reach Out to provide diverse programming to give fresh perspectives on the subject. The fresh perspective and being able to tell some new stories has helped the program to grow. This year we have added an element of coping.  People in our community and schools have stressed that kids of all ages need to learn to cope with different types of adversity.  The initial outcomes have been that students are recognizing what bullying consists of, learning how to cope with it and are making efforts to keep it out of their schools.