Kurt created an epic anti-bullying adventure for The Cardinal—whose alter ego is a mild-mannered high school student who sometimes is a target for bullies. The lengthy comic adventure involves the Cardinal facing the torments of bullies himself, plus sub-plots about several other young people who face various forms of abuse and react in different ways. One former victim turns himself into a super villain bent on revenge, which is an additional tragic outcome of bullying.

The connection between bullying and suicide is elusive, but news coverage of suicide has clearly become more acceptable.

Erosion of the old taboo leads to more coverage of suicides and the natural impression is that they must be increasing.

Main headline on front page describes a teen's death. Photo by Hayley Beitman

According to reports from the Centers for Disease Control, a decline in youth suicide rates from 1990 to 2003 was followed by a rise in 2004 and, from 1999 to 2009, attempts by students in grades 9–12 requiring medical attention decreased 26.9%.

However, suicide news has become more frequent and more prominent as newsrooms continue to relax what had been a largely unwritten rule against covering suicides.

The Hastings Star Gazette in Minnesota described its policy change in January, 2012.

The newspaper told readers, “Essentially, we were sweeping the problem under the rug.”

“This week we changed that policy. We will write about mental health issues in the police report … It’s a significant use of police resources, and the public ought to know how their department is spending its time. …

“The greater good in this, we hope, is that by telling you about these instances you’ll see how prevalent it is. You will have greater awareness about the ongoing struggles taking place in your community. Once you are armed with that information, we hope you’ll do what you can to help your fellow residents.”

The Star Gazette is not alone in relaxing this journalistic taboo.

In September, 2011, Toronto Star Public Editor Kathy English wrote, “If journalism’s first obligation is to tell the truth, why has the truth that some desperate people take their own lives been largely off-limits to journalists?

“For many years, the Star’s policy has been not to reveal that someone committed suicide unless there is some overriding public interest in doing so,” she wrote.

English described her early years learning the craft as a reporter and how she accepted the unwritten code of the newsroom to keep most suicides out of print.

She cited a 2010 article by an intern at the Ottawa Citizen who had once contemplated suicide and his first brush with the rule.

That intern, Liam Casey, later moved on to the Star, wrote for the Ryerson Review of Journalism and included an unusual call at the top of his article: “I contemplated killing myself five years ago. Now, to help others, I call on all journalists to break the silence on our final taboo.”

He described how he first learned about that taboo from police: “The newsroom buzzes when I arrive, or maybe that’s just my heart, fluttering away. (The assignment editor) tells me to follow up with police. About an hour later, the cops say he was a ‘jumper,’ but that’s just for my information since, the officer tells me, the paper doesn’t report suicides.”

Casey wrote that his editors, “tell me not to pursue it further. I move on to a story about a man trying to lure a child into his van near a public school. At least it means I can avoid writing about suicide.

“But I am confused, ignorant of the accepted practice of not reporting suicides.”

Casey added, “Suicide avoidance is a throwback to journalism’s dark days, a time when editors and news producers could choose to ignore unpleasant matters.”

The Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma helps journalists cover issues like suicide and bullying.

In an article for Dart about teen suicides, Brian Slodysko wrote, “many newspapers and media outlets have policies against covering the suicides of young people, especially if the death involves a minor.

“Though it’s a daunting task, and some editors are reluctant to cover suicide, does this mean the issue should be avoided by student journalists?

“Not necessarily.”

Slodysko argued in favor of reporting that runs down rumors, reveals social service needs and reports resources.

Newsrooms typically do not have big policy manuals on how to do their jobs. Sometimes, a newsroom will have a stylebook that dictates writing style and might include a few policies.

The Detroit Free Press stylebook of 1989 said, “We try to honor family requests that suicide not be identified as the cause of death in obituaries. Circumstances that put a self-inflicted death in the public eye, however, might merit its mention in a news story and elsewhere.”

The guideline did not appear in a 1992 revision of the stylebook, but the old taboo continued to hang in the air.

Besides the obvious issues of sensitivity and discomfort, journalists minimized suicide coverage out of concerns about “suicide contagion” — copycat suicides.

In a 2008 article for the Poynter Institute, a school for journalists, veteran TV newsman Al Tompkins began by saying flat out, “Journalists usually avoid suicide stories.” He then listed coverage guidelines from the American Association of Suicidology.

Three years later, Tompkins wrote about how Tampa’s lead TV station had started the evening news with the story of a 10-year-old who had died by suicide.

Tompkins did a video deconstruction of how the station told the story and concluded with “The one thing that would be worse than losing a young life is to lose it and learn nothing from that loss.”

Deconstruct WTVT’s Suicide Coverage from Poynter Institute on Vimeo.

Besides backing off on coverage of suicide, journalists have historically muted coverage of mental illness, sexual assault and AIDS. In each of those areas, the pendulum has swung toward greater disclosure.

In 2001, several U.S. health agencies issued guidelines for media coverage of suicide. The guidelines advised against prominent placement of the story and descriptions or photographs of suicide methods.

The guidelines also recommended that journalists avoid the phrases like “commit suicide,” “failed attempt” and “doing it for attention.”

A study by the U.S. National Institutes for Health of suicide coverage in 2002 and 2003 concluded, “Newspaper suicide stories from 2002 and 2003 did not show consistent adherence to the 2001 media guidelines …. Of particular concern is the absence of helpful suicide prevention information and resources, and the large number of stories that gave detailed information about suicide method and location. A positive trend was that very few suicide stories were on the front page.”

A relaxation of taboos against suicide coverage in some newsrooms would work against that trend.

RESOURCES

A Tormenting Problem: An Exploration of New-Age Bullying, The Dart Center, 2011

The Power of a Bully, The Dart Center, 2010

Roanoke Times policy on suicide coverage, Roanoke Times, 2009

Suicide coverage always challenging by Therese Bottomly, The Oregionian, 2007

Covering Teen Suicide: One Paper’s Decision by Barbara Walsh, The Poynter Institute, 2005

Children’s television channel Cartoon Network realized how important bullying is and decided to take a stand. It started with a definition. According to the Cartoon Network website, bullying is “when someone repeatedly hurts or threatens another person on purpose. Bullying comes in many forms. And it can happen in person, in writing, online, on cell phones, in school, on the bus, at home, anywhere.” The last part of the definition is the most important: “Wherever it happens, it’s NOT acceptable.”

During the fall of 2011, Cartoon Network created and marketed a campaign to promote anti-bullying. It started with a few commercials starring Ali, Jackson and CJ from the show “Dude, What Would Happen.” They present a situation where a newcomer is bullied by another child, and an innocent bystander runs to an adult for help. At the end, they say bullying is wrong and if you see something, say something.

A few months later, more and more anti-bullying commercials began airing on the network. The commercials feature cartoon characters, actors from various shows and celebrities who have been bullied, all joining together for the Stop Bullying, Speak Up initiative. Programming suddenly switched from the Dude commercial to a huge variety: there was an anti-bullying advertisement being played almost every commercial break.

On March 11, Cartoon Network aired a half-hour special entitled Speak Up. The special included stories from celebrities such as NBA player Chris Webber, tennis player Serena Williams and President Barack Obama, and testimonials from real-life victims of bullying. The program is designed to create a discussion, especially within families and schools, about bullying and how it affects people.

The program is very candid. The network warns in the beginning that some of the language is a bit vulgar and may make some people feel uncomfortable. Kevin, a victim, talks about starving himself for a summer because other children were calling him fat. Another child, Aaron, says he was bullied in grade school and his grades suffered as a result of the constant teasing. Jackson Rogow, co-star of Dude, What Would Happen, said that being bullied as a child turned him into a bully after he got older.

The program also discusses solutions. A big theme is communication: victims are encouraged to talk about the incidents with someone and to seek help. Bystanders and witnesses to bullying are encouraged to stand up for the victims and to get help.

One segment featured Alye Pollack, who made a YouTube video in 2011, entitled Words Do Hurt, after being bullied since sixth grade. She talked about how her bullies saw the video and apologized for their actions after watching it. According to Pollack, people even began sticking up for her and other victims after she posted the video. Other victims of bullying saw her video and were inspired to make their own. One year after posting, in March of 2012, she posted another video, Words Do Hurt: 1 Year Later. She encourages other victims to hang in there: it gets better. The video also includes links to the suicide prevention hotline.

Cartoon Network also has a website dedicated to anti-bullying. There are games and literature for children, a page for parents dealing with bullied children and even a page for teachers on how to deal with incidents of bullying in school. There’s also a link to the website of author Rosalind Wiseman, who answers viewer-submitted questions about bullying via a video blog.

For more information, visit www.StopBullyingSpeakUp.com

Bullying has taken a new form on playgrounds across the county.  Instead of the child being teased, pushed around or called names, they are shunned and not invited to join games and activities.

The child is being socially excluded.

According to Dr. Lynn Todman, the term “social exclusion” was initially used during the 1970s by a French politician trying to describe those excluded from the labor market.  Todman, the executive director of the Institute on Social Exclusion at Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago, studies the subject in terms of socioeconomics.

“Social exclusion is actively created by the structures and systems that organize and guide the functioning of our society,” said Todman.  “These structures and systems determine the allocation of rights, resources, and opportunities such as food, safety, education, health, due process and shelter.”

While Todman’s studies focus on social exclusion in underserved populations, she is quick to point out that the result is the same in groups.

“There is research . . . showing that when people feel like they’re being excluded, they lose their willingness to self-regulate,” said Todman.

Dr. Edyth Wheeler of Towson University in Baltimore County, Md, agrees and has studied social exclusion of children and young adults.

“Four year olds are master at this,” she says.  “When they say ‘I’m not going to be your friend anymore’, they are making the threat of exclusion.  Children at that age are at the point where their need for adult approval is declining and they are dependent on peer approval.”

Wheeler says she doesn’t believe that children learn from their parents or other adults how to exclude others from their parents or other adults.  Instead, she believes it is a knowledge of the human condition which leads to the ability – and desire – to exclude their  peers.

“It’s this innate understanding that makes people want to be accepted and let ‘in’,” she said.  “To show we have power, we can not accept them and leave them out.  Or to cement ourselves as a group – to be a stronger ‘we’ – we’ll identify a ‘them’.”

According to her work, young girls are specifically good at performing acts of social exclusion.  For them, it’s a strong and powerful tool used to negotiate their world and relationships.

There’s good news, according to Wheeler, if you’re the victim of social exclusion.

“It’s not a permanent condition,” she says.  “It peaks and then goes away.  Part of it is about finding your own identity.”

Teachers and parents may also play a role in preventing social exclusion or healing the hurt after it has taken place.

“The adults really need to listen to their children and to pick up the signals,” said Wheeler.  “Children need to trust that somebody can help them.  If the message can be that everyone is valued and everyone will be listened to, the situations can become better.  In classrooms, teachers can create a sense of community and be very aware of grouping.  Really, It all goes back to the responsibility of the adult.”

“Baby, I was born this way” is one of the lyrics of Lady Gaga’s hit song, Born This Way. The song highlights what it means to be different or unique and how it should be less of a faux pas and more of a norm. A growing number of celebrities have started to speak out about how they were picked on as children and to speak up for people who are bullied today.

Raising awareness of bullying has led to people speaking out regarding the topic; celebrities are no exception.

“There are many celebrities that are now openly talking about their own bouts with bullying, it is THE popular topic,” says Bully Police USA Co-Director Kevin Epling. Celebrities ranging from the aforementioned Lady Gaga to former President Bill Clinton to TV host Ellen Degeneres all experienced bullying and are now talking candidly about it.

Degeneres has recently used her television program to communicate this message: “teenage bullying and teasing is an epidemic in this country.” Referencing the death of former Rutgers student, Tyler Clementi, who was bullied and would later take his own life, Degeneres uses her personal bout with bullying to emphasize the reality of the topic.

“(Degeneres) is also talking about the topic and not just when the media is reporting a story,” Epling said. “She is trying to keep it in the public eye when she can.”

Celebrities have been using their status to raise awareness of what Degeneres has called an “epidemic.”

E-Poll, a market research company, conducted a study that found, “During teens’ growth process, they often rely on celebrities and images in popular culture to act as connectors to social acceptance, but also to help them define their own identity.”

Another way that celebrities are waging anti-bullying efforts is through their areas of expertise, as the band Foster the People does with its music. While unavailable for comment, their lyrics of some of the band’s most popular songs have anti-bullying undertones, which has led group leader Mark Foster to be more vocal on the issue.

In a CNN interview, Foster spoke of his struggle with bullying while growing up. “I experienced bullying a lot,” he said. Foster continues by saying, “I was kind of a small kid with a big mouth, and so I always got myself in trouble….And I grew up in Cleveland. It’s pretty blue collar, and kids know how to fight there, so that was a real thing, for sure.” He further makes reference to his band’s most popular and award winning song Pumped Up Kicks, about the internal struggle of an adolescent and the prospect of what to do with a gun.

The violence of Foster’s song provides a way that he and his group are able to present the issue to youth.

The lyrics in Foster the People’s song Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls) go, “One two three close your eyes and count to four; I’m gonna (I’d like) to hide behind my bedroom door; Crayons on walls; I’ll color on them all; I’ll draw until I’ve broken every law.” This lyric describes a young child dealing with bullying and as Foster describes, is something that he has dealt with himself.

Although celebrities are able to capture the attention of a large audience when they speak, Epling says he is cautious about accepting their support.

“There is a part of me that, until I really see what they are actually doing, I am wary of celebrities jumping on the bandwagon,” Epling said.

Celebrities always have trending issues that they promote and bullying is one of those topics now. Lady Gaga’s foundation hopes to, “lead youth into a braver new society where each individual is accepted and loved as the person they were born to be.” This is the type of message that parents of those effected by bullying such as Epling want to hear.