Besting the bullies.

• Author: Patkin, Todd
• Position: Life in America

"According to the National Institutes of Health, about 47 teens are bullied every five minutes; 71% of students report bullying as an ongoing problem; about 282,000 students reportedly are attacked in U.S. high schools each month...."

Every few months, it seems, there is another headline about the death of a child or teen as the result of bullying. That is terrifying--and unacceptable. To some extent, we expect to hear about economic woes, political strife, and natural disasters, but we do not expect to hear about the premature (and preventable) deaths of our young people, and we should not have to. It is past time to realize that bullying is "the" problem of our day, and for parents and educators to lead the revolution on stopping this dangerous behavior.

According to the National Institutes of Health, about 47 teens are bullied every five minutes; 71% of students report bullying as an ongoing problem; about 282,000 students reportedly are attacked in U.S. high schools each month; young people who have been bullied are twice as likely than their nonbullied peers to consider suicide; a teenager attempts suicide every 30 minutes as a result of bullying.

To put it bluntly, what we are doing to combat bullying clearly is not working. Suicides are still occurring and thousands of kick' lives are destroyed or diminished--but not ended--by bullying.

I know from personal experience just how devastating bullying can be. Being the target of several tormenters filled my high school years with much anxiety, and the effects of being bullied lasted into adulthood. My tormenters verbally abused me, and they also would push me around and knock my books or drinks out of my hands. They often caused me to dread coming to school or attending social functions. My confidence and self-esteem took a huge hit. Looking back, I believe that the negative self-image bullying cultivated lasted well into my adult years and contributed to the anxiety and depression from which I suffered.

I, of course, am not alone. Research has shown that the fear, social anxiety, shame, low self-esteem, and anger that bullying causes can rear their heads throughout adulthood, often at crucial moments, causing individuals who were once bullied to stick with "easy," "safe," or "defensive" choices instead of those that might prove most beneficial. There are definitive links between childhood bullying and adult depression. Being bullied also can lead to anger management problems and...