Linda Bisgaard, the Director of Collaboration and Advocacy for the Girl Scouts of Iowa, spoke to Rotary during its regular noon meeting on Wednesday, September 22. She spoke about the issues of bullying and relational aggression in young girls.
 
Linda shared that for most of us, bullying is defined as overstepping boundaries, intentionally hurtful behavior and verbal abuse. But today, those acts are just part of a larger problem known as relational aggression (RA). Relational aggression encompasses behaviors that harm others by damaging or manipulating their relationships with their peers.

Some relational aggression facts:
- the most common kinds of bullying tend to be name calling and teasing about appearance
- nearly half of all girls define safety as not having their feelings hurt
- girls are more likely than boys to participate in or be victims of RA
- girls tend to target their bullying at other girls, often spreading gossip and encouraging others to reject or exclude another
- RA is just as harmful as physical bullying
- Almost 30 percent of young people in the U.S., more than 5.7 million children, are estimated to be involved in bullying, either as a bully, a target or both.

Girls Scouts have included programs for girls and training for adults to create awareness of the problem and provide tips on how to be proactive in building self esteem and confidence to reduce bullying.