What do adults not get about bullying? - Action News
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What do adults not get about bullying?

CBC News Vancouver held a live forum on bullying at a North Vancouver secondary school on Wednesday that asked the question: What do adults not get about bullying?

Anti-bullying forum

12 years ago
Duration 2:21
Teens at a CBC forum in B.C. talked about what adults do not understand about bullying

CBC News Vancouver held a live forum on bullying at a North Vancouver secondary school on Wednesday that asked the question: What do adults not get about bullying?

The forum at Argyle Secondary School was hosted by local television news anchor Gloria Macarenko and B.C. Almanac host Mark Forsythe.

Students at Argyle shared their personal experiences and observations.

"A lot of things have changed since their generation in terms of social media and just how bullying happens in general," said Grade 12 student Austin.

"So we think that theres a lot of different things and different approaches that we need to take ... taking peer approaches and making it socially unacceptable to bully, just like we have with other movements like womens rights all through our history."

Lucy, another Grade 12 student, agreed social media has changed the landscape of bullying.

Students shared their personal experiences with bullying. (CBC)

"I think, especially when I talked to my parents about it, they had a stereotypical view of a bully ... the really tough kids that push kids into lockers, and its not like that anymore with Facebook and twitter. Its easier to be anonymous with it."

Cyrus, now in Grade 12, told CBC hewas bullied in Grade 9.

"Parents dont put themselves in their childrens shoes and they dont understand ... When I was bullied, when adults finally intervened, the severity of the situation actually increased and it made the bullying worse," he said.

"I was bullied because I was differentI was a small kid and I dressed differently, I guess and I was bullied to the point where I was threatened tobehurt, online and at school."

Cyrus said he was too scared to tell anyone, and nothing changed until the school's administration finally intervened in a way that stopped the bullying.

"It was definitely something that really affected me but on the whole I was very lucky because I didnt feel the need to take it to the level that Amanda Todd did, and theres just so many extremes out there that people are getting bullied look towards," Cyrus said.

"But theyve got to realize that theyve got to be stronger and theres better purpose and them being bullied, its not their fault its society and its everybody else ... and theyve just got to lift themselves above that."

Teenagers, teachers and parents also weighed in on our live chat and on twitter. Click below to replay the online chat.