Now school was ready to start. She was eager to see her friends, but cringed at the thought of recess. Recess meant boys taunting her about her hair loss and swooping in to knock off her wig when her back was turned. The long-time child advocate and member of JWI of Kansas City says she still cries when she talks about Kim, even though its been nearly 20 years since she heard the young girl's story. While bullies have long been part of the schoolyard cast of characters, today's encounter with them can turn increasingly ugly, thanks to the availability of handguns.
Statistics reflect the scope of the problem.
According to the National Education Association, every day 160,000 children miss school, due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students. Like with other forms of child abuse, the perpetrators can be either male or female. A study they cite indicates that most bullying behavior occurs between the ages of nine and thirteen, when youngsters are in the upper elementary grades or in middle or junior high school. Where there is mutuality, we don't consider it abuse. The effects of bullying can be devastating.