October is bullying prevention month. It’s a good time to share tips on how to prevent bullying.

“In general, I would consider bullying to have become a bigger problem. It has definitely grown; especially with the rise of social media,” guidance counselor, Mr. David Kelly said.

Social media has become the most common way for bullying to happen. According to dosomething.org, nearly 43 percent of kids world-wide have been bullied online and about one-fourth of them say it has happened more than once.

“Now, even when kids go home, the bullying doesn’t stop. It’s on their phones and computers,” Kelley stated.

Everyday about 160,000 teens skip school due to bullying,according to dosomething.org.“We haven’t seen a lot of bullying here at Wahlert. The most common things you hear about in high school is, friendship issues involving a group of friends ganging up on someone, or dating and relationship problems,” Mr. Kelley says. Mr. Kelley has some tips on how to cope and deal with being bullied.

“Talk with someone that you trust, or I hope that students would feel comfortable with coming to me. If we know what’s going on, we are able to help the situation. Be watchful of who you hear things from, and that could go a long way to solving these problems.”

If you don’t know how to help prevent bullying from happening follow some of these tips from other students.