I've written about this before, but the topic just keeps coming up. Bullying. It seems to be happening in schools everywhere, and it seems to be getting worse.
These are not just the stereotypical schoolyard bullies who shake kids down for their lunch money. These are groups of kids working together to make life miserable for one or more selected kids at their school. For the kids targeted by bullies, school is a nightmare. Not only are they lonely, but they have to worry about being taunted, having rumors spread about them over the Internet, and even being physically injured.
In the past week, I learned about two little boys who actually considered suicide because of the bullying they were enduring. One 10-year-old boy was found sitting in his backyard tree, with a rope around his neck, getting ready to jump, when his mother found him and stopped him in time. And a middle school boy made plans to kill himself on his 13th birthday, before his mother found out and got him help.
Today I even learned of a 13-year-old boy who was cornered in the locker room, held by the neck, and beaten with a leather belt. In a separate incident, he was chased by another boy and hit in the head so hard that he started bleeding from the nose and mouth.
I made a couple videos about bullying, which I will share here and on our The Bully Stops Here page. If you would like to share a video, story, or piece of art about bullying, please send it to me at [email protected]. Thanks!
These are not just the stereotypical schoolyard bullies who shake kids down for their lunch money. These are groups of kids working together to make life miserable for one or more selected kids at their school. For the kids targeted by bullies, school is a nightmare. Not only are they lonely, but they have to worry about being taunted, having rumors spread about them over the Internet, and even being physically injured.
In the past week, I learned about two little boys who actually considered suicide because of the bullying they were enduring. One 10-year-old boy was found sitting in his backyard tree, with a rope around his neck, getting ready to jump, when his mother found him and stopped him in time. And a middle school boy made plans to kill himself on his 13th birthday, before his mother found out and got him help.
Today I even learned of a 13-year-old boy who was cornered in the locker room, held by the neck, and beaten with a leather belt. In a separate incident, he was chased by another boy and hit in the head so hard that he started bleeding from the nose and mouth.
I made a couple videos about bullying, which I will share here and on our The Bully Stops Here page. If you would like to share a video, story, or piece of art about bullying, please send it to me at [email protected]. Thanks!