“With all due respect, what makes you think you have all the answers?” teenaged Alyssa Rodemeyer asks Lady Gaga. They’re both seated on stage at the launch of Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation, which seeks to empower young people to be braver, kinder, and while they’re at it, prevent bullying. For Rodemeyer, whose younger brother committed suicide after years of bullying, the question is deeply personal.
“I don’t have all the answers. In fact, I have very few,” Gaga is quick to admit. What she does have is a lofty goal and a Foundation stacked with experts well-suited to help achieve it.
Among them is Professor Dewey Cornell, director of U.Va.’s Virginia Youth Violence Project. He joined Lady Gaga and other luminaries, including Oprah, at the foundation’s first symposium in February.
Lady Gaga visits Harvard with Oprah Winfrey to officially launch the Born This Way Foundation.
As a forensic clinical psychologist with decades of experience examining criminal defendants, Cornell has a long-standing commitment to understanding violence and bullying. He recalls in particular a case he worked on nearly 30 years ago in which a 16-year-old boy was accused of murdering a 14-year-old girl. The girl had been teasing him, calling him names, and other kids followed suit. In time the boy became depressed and angry, and one day, he killed her.
For Cornell, the case really drove home the severity and importance of the bullying problem. “I realized that as a psychologist I didn’t have a very good understanding of why something seemingly as simple as calling somebody a name could lead to murder, and so I began to study juvenile homicide and safety in school, and eventually, bullying.”
Dewey Cornell, professor of education and director of U.Va.’s Virginia Youth Violence Project, was recruited by Lady Gaga to lend his expertise on youth bullying.Dan Addison Over the past few decades, thanks to Cornell and others in the field, our understanding of the problem has become more sophisticated. We’ve learned, for example, that students with ADHD may be at greater risk of both being bullies and victims. We also know that the emotional and health effects of bullying can persist well into adulthood, with former victims experiencing everything from depression to an increased susceptibility to colds.
When it comes to prevention, however, Cornell says there’s much work left to do. “So far, our efforts to reduce bullying have had mixed success. I think there’s general agreement that we have programs that can reduce bullying to a certain extent,” says Cornell, “but we’re not satisfied with that, so there is an active search for more effective ways to reduce and prevent bullying.”
The Born This Way Foundation, harnessing Lady Gaga’s celebrity power to fundraise and inspire, has the potential to greatly augment these efforts. “[The Foundation] really wants to facilitate cultural change so that young people … help us construct a better society that’s more tolerant and inclusive and productive,” Cornell explains. “I don’t think you can get much more ambitious than that as a goal.”
Lady Gaga and Professor Cornell take different, but complementary approaches in pursuit of this mission. While Gaga gets the Born Brave bus ready for its national tour—a kindness tailgate party at every stop, as she envisions it—Professor Cornell will be hard at work identifying research needs, examining evidence and helping pave the way to a kinder, braver future.
WATCH
Video from the launch event includes Ophrah Winfrey, Deepak Chopra and others asking Gaga about her vision for the foundation.
Comments
Hello, I am delighted that Professor Cornell will be working on this important project. I have been working on a program addressing restoring values through the power of music and rhyme. A great song on bullying is being mastered tonight in the studio. Please take a look at our work and website- rhymingresources.com and we would be so happy to share our efforts as we continue to address guidelines for building valued relationships. Warmly, Pat
I would love to hear comments from others more diplomatic and sophisticated than I on the irony of our culture wanting to eliminate bullying while simultaneously nominating a presidential candidate who apparently was a very active bully in his youth. It is very popular to decry the bully and stand up for the victims who are often driven to murder or suicide. But, at the same time, the most "popular" or successful members of society are the grown-up bullies themselves. That doesn't make any sense -- it is our reality, but it's crazy.
I really doubt that bullying can be eliminated. It is part of the natural world, and it is part of growing up: Children learn limits by bumping into them. What is bullying for one "victim" is often harmless play for another. The best solution is prayer, patience, and compassion by all involved. I was frequently bullied in school, partly due to my small stature. I found that the best way for me to prevent bullying was the "Big HELLO". Whenever I saw a past bully, I would greet the bully very loudly and with a big smile. I think that the Big HELLO works because most bullies just want attention, and because it tells the bully, "I am not afraid of you." Once a pretty girl who was a classmate of mine assaulted me. She said that she was infatuated with me. I didn't know how to deal with her interest in me. So, I cried and tried to stuff myself in my locker. My mind blocked out the unpleasant incident for years. If I had been more mature, and my response more charitable, her interest might have led to a healthy and loving relationship. A couple years later she apologized, and I think that I rejected her apology. I regret that now. But, I was just a kid. To bring force of law would have been very highly inappropriate.
@Debbie, I would have to say that your comment is a complete derail and does not contribute to the discussion. And @Joe, I'm not really sure that your ..."solution" gets to the root of the problem. I'm glad that the program aims to teach students not to bully, rather than "don't be bullied." It may not succeed by itself, but that doesn't invalidate its existence. The more programs like this that there are, the more that the message of "don't bully" gets out there, and that can only be a good thing.
@AL, I agree with you that a privately funded program to reduce bullying is a good thing. Thank you to Lady Gaga and Dewey Cornell for that.
I work at an elementary school that is very successful in dealing with bullying (SYV Family School). We start in Kindergarten teaching children healthy communication skills (both expressing their feelings and needs and Listening to others non-judgementally). We also teach kindness as a goal and our school has a culture of kindness where bullying etc is not accepted by other children. Yes, bullying behavior does pop up, but with these tools it is quickly addressed and both parties (and parents) learn and grow from it.
@AL, You're complete dismissal of Debbie's comment, and your denial of it's contribution to the discussion, was an effective example of how to subtly devalue the individual, and bully that person into silence. It underlines the point she makes that we need to look at how the broader culture is a part of the problem. And perhaps how we as individuals inadvertently contribute to it as well. It's hopeful to see that the educational program Rebecca references teaches children how to listen to others nonjudgementally.
Can we all agree that bullying at any level is a negative and not a positive...can we agree that bullying affectes all of us differently, but that affect is still negative...can we agree that this issue has escalated to the point of death...if we can agree with those very simple questions then can we also agree that teaching kindness does not always equate to the learner being kind...that's why there is a need for Born This Way and the VA Youth Violence Project...lets support their efforts...
As an alumna of UVA and the Founder & CEO of Dance 4 Peace (www.dance4peace.org), I am proud to see UVA part of the global conversation surrounding an epidemic facing our schools and communities. Dance 4 Peace is a global peace education nonprofit that transforms conflict and prevents violence and bullying through dance and creative movement. We believe that an increase in empathetic behavior, a skillset that can be inspired at a young age, leads to a decrease in acts of violence and bullying. If we can give teachers the tools to integrate empathy and social and emotional learning into their classrooms each day, across subject areas and grade levels, we will have safer, kinder school climates that inspire holistic learning. Thank you Lady Gaga for offering the call to action to fellow Wahoos and for mobilizing this important issue as part of a national education agenda.
Bullying = Harassment = Abuse. We can label these acts anyway we like. However, it is still Abuse. We as a society need to stop accepting Bulling/Abuse as “normal behavior” and promote respect. Many talk show hosts are highly paid to promote bulling with their negative voice. This is a national issue crossing over into every aspect of our lives from childhood to adulthood. The challenge is there. Talking about it is a big step forward.
Written for the classroom, but so appropriate today everywhere in our community. Please listen to "We Can't Be Silent" on rhymingresources.com.....we just can't be silent when something is wrong. For some reason I can't attach the song here, but I believe it continues to address the challenge! Thank you
First, there is a need for a standard definition of bullying that will lead to a stated action at the parent/teacher/school level. If outside the school walls, each activity/function needs to incorporate both definition and remediation plan into its mission statement, Most schools and/or programs pay lip service to anti bully policy but have no wording for a review of incidents nor an action plan for established bullying. Needless to say, consequences nor remediation nor public service nor restitution to the victims by the bully can ever happen. The links between bullying and violence are well established. What else is needed?
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