I hear a lot about "bullying" these days. And I've been wondering why.Two evenings ago, cutting across a school playground while out for a walk, I wandered over to an area with lots of chalk markings. Instead of colorful patterns and hopscotch outlines, I found dozens of messages written in gigantic letters, all with the same message: "Stop bullying!"
Standing in the middle of these admonitions, I thought to myself, what is going on? I don't remember this being such a huge issue when I was growing up. For sure there were kids who picked on other kids. Some were verbally disrespectful. Others were physically intimidating. But those who picked on others were on the fringe. Most kids were just dealing with the normal challenges of growing up, which included navigating the waters of what now appears to have become a major issue called bullying.
Has bullying become more pervasive and aggressive in recent years? Or is it just reported more often than it used to be? Is something serious going on, or is it a manufactured crisis? (more...)
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