Gifted kids vulnerable to effects of bullying.

• Position: YOUR LIFE - Brief article

Bullying in the gifted-student population is an overlooked problem that leaves many of these youngsters emotionally shattered, making them more prone to extreme anxiety, dangerous depression, and, sometimes, violence, asserts Jean Sunde Peterson, associate professor of education studies at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.

Sunde found that, by eighth grade, more than two-thirds of gifted students had been victims. "All children are affected adversely by bullying, but gifted children differ from other children in significant ways," Sunde points out. "Many are intense, sensitive, and stressed by their own and others' high expectations, and their ability, interests, and behavior may make them vulnerable.

"Additionally, social justice issues are very important to them, and they struggle to make sense of cruelty and aggression. Perfectionists...