In the State of New Jersey there has been a sharp decline in bullying thanks to the Anti Bullying Bill of Rights that was passed in 2011. The article that was posted on New Jersey dot come, sic, NJ.com states that administrators site the hundreds of anti bullying seminars, programs and initiatives that took every bullying report seriously even if the facts and circumstances were minimal. The administrators also site the strong initiative to teach empathy, which is a big problem among children, teens and college students. Empathy is defined in Psychology Today as "the experience of understanding another person's condition from their perspective. You place yourself in their shoes and feel what they are feeling." So many of us are taught to be individualistic that we forget the importance of really understanding what others go through. We tend to focus so much on our needs and not those of others. If children are surrounded by messages that encourage selfishness then the empathy part of their being becomes lost.
Here is an excerpt from the article posted on NJ.COM:
Last year, investigations of harassment, intimidation and bullying dropped 40 percent to 21,934, according to the Department of Education’s Violence, Vandalism and Substance Abuse in the Schools Report for 2012-13. Confirmed incidents dropped 36 percent, from 12,024 to 7,740.
The decline comes in the second year of separate reporting for bullying, following the passage of the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act in 2011. The law, which amends the Public School Safety Law of 1982, allows students to anonymously report bullying incidents, and it requires districts to document and investigate every claim.
The annual report shows across-the-board declines in violence, vandalism, weapons and substance abuse. Incidents totaled, 21,170, a 20 percent drop.
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