Teachers and school administrators should also read Please Stop Laughing at Me, as it serves as a guide for identifying students who may be bullying victims. By looking into the mind of a victim, teachers and administrators will be better equipped to establish their own anti-bullying programs and better handle difficult situations with students and parents.
Unlike the 2003 edition, the 2010 version includes a reader's guide offering additional resources for schools and parents. In addition, she explains her It's NOT Just Joking Around seminars, providing information that may help schools form their own anti-bullying programs. While the book cover proclaims that this new edition includes information on cyberbullying, Blanco addresses the issue in only a few questions during an author interview. This vital issue deserves its own chapter and should be explored more thoroughly in future editions. Blanco relies solely on her own experiences, which is understandable, but it would be interesting to have a psychiatrist weigh in on why certain students bully others, or how victims can be affected into adulthood. The healing process is surely more complicated than Blanco describes, and an expert's opinions on how such students can be helped would have been incredibly useful.
Blanco states that when one suffers abuse, "you can do one of two things. You can learn how to turn your pain into purpose and make a difference in the world, or you can allow it to extinguish the light inside you" (p. 213). Indeed, Please Stop Laughing at Me demonstrates just that, as Blanco clearly turned her negative experiences into a force for good. While her story — and recovery process — may not apply to everyone, it provides a valuable illustration of the long lasting damage bullying can inflict on someone. If nothing else, Blanco's book may inspire other Adult Survivors of Peer Abuse to come forward with their stories, and elicit productive dialogue with all affected parties on this important issue.
For more information on Blanco and It's NOT Just Joking Around, visit her website.
Article comments
1 - cdym
Thank you for introducing this book to me...I plan to read it and recommend it to
parents and grandparents and educators...
Civility....that is what is missing more and more from our society...
2 - Kit O'Toole
Thanks for commenting, and you're right--this is an issue that needs to be discussed among as many people as possible.
3 - Susan
I read the 2003 edition of this book, and it really struck a chord. As someone who endured bullying all the way through elementary and junior high (fortunately, high school was less hellish...but only by a fraction), I could relate...but I also have to admit to being thankful that nothing I experienced even came close to some of the physical abuse Blanco suffered.
Even so, too many of today's school administrators do not know what to do about bullying, and teachers are often at a loss, if not outright clueless, about how to aid victims of bullying. This is a serious issue that needs to be taken seriously. We are fortunate that our son's middle school absolutely takes this kind of thing very seriously and nips the (luckily, few) instances of bullying in the bud, but how many schools do nothing, or worse, blame the victims for bringing this on themselves? Blanco's book should be required reading for kids and administrators alike -- kids, so they can recognize themselves as either the bullies or the bullied, and administrators so they recognize the signs and can put a stop to the torment, particularly before it leads to far more serious consequences for the victims.
4 - Kit O'Toole
Absolutely right, Susan, and thanks for commenting. If the book does nothing else but spark productive conversations among parents, kids, teachers, and administrators, it has done an important job.
5 - fcetier
I see attempts to intimidate every Friday night on the football field.
And I feel it from customers every day at work.
When they threaten to call my boss I tell them to be sure and spell my name correctly!
6 - Terionna barlow
I read Ur book in 6th grade now I'm in 7th this book inspired me so much i actually wrote a report on Ur books when I read it to the class they were like why are they doing that to her just because she's different it changed my class a lot cause they don't be bullying and take it really serious so thank you so much for the book