Bullying

Bullying is in the spotlight lately.  Ellen. Lady Gaga. etc.

Bullying has been around forever, but lately, there's been a trend of kids taking their lives over it. 

Here's the solution:

1. Stop treating kids like they are made out of egg shells.  Kids are resilient.  They can handle things.  We need to quit making excuses and dish out some responsibilities.  Stop giving kids rewards without also making sure that they've deserved it.  There has to be a balance of rewards and consequences.  If you let a kid go through life thinking that they can do no wrong, you're doing that child a great disservice.  

2. You're not going to stop people from bullying.  Some people are just MEAN.  They don't feel bad for what they're doing, and more often than not, you're not going to change their minds.  They grow up to be mean adults (military wives?).  90% of the time, their parents were bullies too.  Mean behavior is LEARNED.  Instead of trying to get these kids to stop bullying, we need to empower the bullied so that they can cope with  these awful people.  If they don't learn how to cope as kids, they're going to flounder as adults.  I'm 26 and have worked with bullies.  Like I said, you can't often get them to stop.