Bullying was a topic in the Abuse and Neglect class I took last Fall. Since it was an internet class, there was no discussion about it, and the book didn't address it either, but there was a paper assigned about bullying. The teacher summarized the results. Almost everybody considered bullying to be abuse, and a problem that needed to be taken seriously. A majority of the class had either been bullied or had participated in bullying, or both (there tends to be some overlap - one kid gets bullied, so they pick on someone else in turn), and there were at least two class members who were, in the words of the teacher, "still deeply scarred" by the experience of having been bullied.

Some definitions of abuse seem to limit child abuse to acts perpetrated on a child by an adult who has responsibility to care for the child. But I do not find that to be an adequate definition. Maybe being abused by someone a child has a right to expect to take care of them adds a dimension to it, but being hurt (physically, emotionally, etc.) is damaging regardless of who hurts you, even if it is another child. I was one of those still deeply scarred by the effects of abuse. In my paper, I compared a list of typical symptoms of an abused child with my own experience, and it matched up. Now, it isn't possible to make a definitive claim that all of those symptoms are solely the result of having been bullied. The list included things like depression, low self-esteem, anger, as well as short-term physical effects such as bruises, that can more directly be pinpointed to the abuse. My conclusion was that since the effects of bullying are the same or similar to the effects of child abuse, that it should be considered a form of child abuse, and victims of bullying should receive the same treatment.

Treatment for victims of bullying is very much overlooked. There are programs for prevention of bullying and for trying to teach bullies better social skills, but I am not sure how effective those programs are. One problem with those that separate the bullies out and attempt to change their behavior is that some of the bullies are victims and are picked on while in those classes. I'm also concerned that those programs may just poduce more sophisticated bullies. The most effective anti-bullying programs are those that address an entire school community, children and adults, promoting a spirit of inclusion and empathy. And I think that making treatment available to the victims is very important, not only because the scars of bullying can last a life-time, but also because of the tendency for so many victims to become bullies themselves, in extreme cases even leading to incidents such as Columbine, where victims of bullying reacted very violently.

Bullying is not a normal childhood experience, and children should not be left to their own devices to deal with it. Treatment and support are absolutely crucial.

<font color=orange>"Never forget: 2 + 2 = 5 for extremely large values of 2."</font color=orange>