About Red Card
Bullying isn’t something that happens somewhere else to someone else. It’s happening right here in Kansas City, and it’s one of the most toxic social issues of our time.
That’s what bullying is—toxic, unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived imbalance of power.
In fact, according to the latest Professional Research Consultants, Inc. (PRC) Child and Adolescent Health Survey, nearly 25% of students in the Kansas City area reported being bullied in the past year; and almost 12% had been cyberbullied.
The result? Bullying can lead to feelings of isolation, rejection, depression and even thoughts of suicide.
That’s why bullying is NEVER, ever okay. And why Children’s Mercy Kansas City and Sporting Kansas City teamed up to help kids, teens, parents, teachers, coaches and schools take a stand against bullying.
Together, we can use Red Card to identify and do something about bullying behavior now.
If you’ve ever been bullied, you know it’s tough to do something about it. That’s why we created Red Card.
In soccer, the red card indicates a serious offense, and the player is removed from the game. For this campaign, the red card is a way to not only highlight instances of bullying, but to encourage kids and adults to speak up against it.
Red Card highlights informative, supportive and inspiring messages using tip cards, posters, trading cards featuring Sporting KC players, and much more.
There is no cost or contract involved for partner schools. Red card provides the right tools and campaign materials to take a stand against bullying, empowering kids, parents, teachers, coaches and schools right here in our community to do the right thing, right now.
Types of bullying
Bullying can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. Whether it takes place in person or online, all forms of bullying are wrong.
Everyone can learn how to recognize bullying and how to respond when bullying happens.
Here are the signs of bullying so you can call it when you see it.
Verbal
Verbal bullying is saying or writing mean things. Verbal bullying includes:
- Teasing.
- Body shaming.
- Name-calling and insults.
- Inappropriate sexual comments.
- Using the wrong gender pronouns on purpose.
- Taunting.
- Threatening to cause harm.
Social
Social bullying, sometimes referred to as relational bullying, involves hurting someone’s reputation or relationships. Social bullying includes:
- Leaving someone out on purpose.
- Telling other children not to be friends with someone.
- Spreading rumors about someone.
- Embarrassing someone in public.
Physical
Physical bullying involves hurting a person’s body or possessions. Physical bullying includes:
- Hitting/kicking/pinching.
- Spitting.
- Tripping/pushing.
- Taking or breaking someone’s things.
- Making mean or rude hand gestures.
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place using electronic technology. Electronic technology includes devices and equipment such as cell phones, computers and tablets as well as communication tools including social media sites, text messages, chat and websites. Because electronic communication is easy to hide from others, sometimes only the target and the bully know it’s happening. Cyberbullying includes:
- Mean text messages or emails.
- Rumors sent by email or posted on social networking sites.
- Embarrassing pictures, videos, websites or fake profiles.
- Roasting is cyberbullying where people insult a person who posts a picture or video. The comments can be lighthearted. But often they’re hateful and can damage a child’s self-esteem.
Bystanding
You may not think you’re hurting anyone if you’re not the one who is personally doing the bullying. But watching bullying happen, or worse, egging it on, only encourages the behavior. Red Card teaches us all how we can stand up to bullying.
Take the Pledge
