The Bullying epidemic

I thought bullies are just caricature characters in American movies or TV series, and are so demonized by the scriptwriter that they could not be true in real life. Growing up in Asia in the 1990's, bullies are much rarer because Asian kids are spitfires and can take care of themselves. We were taught to stand up and defend ourselves at home, and usually attended the same school with several siblings in different grade levels, that's why we can always depend on an older brother/sister to step in when a childhood "frenemy" starts ranting.

Not so here in the US! Bullying has become so common among school kids that the mayor of our town, who just happens to be my husband, organized a seminar aimed to teach children sixteen years and younger useful strategies to combat bullies, or diffuse situations which involved bullying. Twenty kids attended the seminar, where they learned punching, evasion techniques, grappling, and more intense physical techniques when verbal bullying escalates into a fight.

Johnston City is a small bedroom community of 4,000 residents in Southern Illinois. It is a suburb of the much larger nearby cities of Marion and Carbondale. You would think this town could escape the demons of city living, but think again! I personally got to know a short, 11-year-old kid who was bullied continuously for two years that he contemplated quitting school and running away. Now, the youngster has taken up karate to gain confidence.

Until such time when smaller, more timid kids learn to stand up for themselves and scare bullies away, we will have to contend with this social epidemic in our towns.