We all knew one, a bully, perhaps that boy in seventh grade who taunted the shy, skinny new kid, making fun of his sweater on a warm spring day. I think there is a continuum that starts with insensitivity and a lack of empathy and then goes to teasing and name-calling. The early part of the continuum has always existed and has always been hurtful and damaging. Two weeks ago, the American Medical Association released a national study that found that nearly one-third of children in sixth through 10th grades said they've been bullied or have been bullied by other children. The Santa Rosa school board is expected to vote this month or next on a districtwide policy that would alert teachers and students that bullying and harassment will not be tolerated.
School bullying is all too common, educators and parents say.
It's not just the bullying in itself that has educators, counselors and parents worried, but the environment in which it is done, a world where kids are bombarded by violence in the media and an all-too easy access to guns in which they can act out their frustrations. Jo Anne Bressick believes kids as young as 5 or 6 should be taught in kindergarten to think for themselves, and that it is not OK to hurt others, either verbally or physically. Our program teaches the kids not to be bystanders. The minute you allow someone to call someone names or say something about someone's body, you make it OK to do anything they want. It's a hard thing to learn.