Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.

Baloo the Bully … not!

There’s a month for everything.

I thought October was mommy’s-birthday-grandma-and-grandpa-are-coming-going-to-phoenix-and-disneyland month.

I was wrong.

This month is national bullying prevention month. It’s also avoid depression month and and and … I guess if you were getting bullied you’d be depressed. Neither of these are small matters.

11 bully facts –

1. Girls bully in groups.

2. Boys bully in groups, too, but not as much as girls.

3. Girls bully emotionally.

4. Boys bully physically.

5. Girls attack social status – popular, not popular.

6. Boys target groups. Athlete, non-athlete.

7. Girls will report being bullied.

8. Boys will not report being bullied as often.

9. Most bullying lasts less than a minute. (37 secs).

10. Teachers only intervene in bullying cases in 1 out of every 25 cases!

11. Most bullying happens in restrooms, during lunch or on school bus.

Parents should not be too aggressive or too permissive. Children who are overly dependent and too independent tend to be bullied.

Kids who watch too much TV are in trouble.

The average kindergartner has seen more than 8,000 murders on television.

The average kindergartner is only 1800-2000 days old! That’s about 4 murders each day!

Bullying and exposure to violence are connected.

I guess I’d better ask my classmates how many of them watch TV and for how long?

We don’t even have television in my house. Do you?

Talk to Bill and others about their experiences raising bi-cultural Japanese-American kids.