Bullying

Karl Peart’s parents explained to London’s Daily Telegraph that their son had been a lifelong target. Although he could make friends easily, harassment from school bullies had been constant. His parents recalled instances of bullying when their son was only a toddler. By the time he was 13, Karl would return home with bruises, cuts, a broken finger, and stories of taunts and threats.

But by 16, Karl had it all figured out. He closed the door to his bedroom and opened a bottle of prescription painkillers. When his mother found him the next morning, Karl was dead, leaving notes for his parents and plans for his funeral—even choosing the music he wanted to have played.

Perhaps, his parents conceded, Karl had not been enough of a fighter. His father took it hard. “If he’d had a bit more of me in him, he would have smacked them on the nose,” he said. “But Karl would never ever do that: He was too gentle.”

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (April 25, 2001), out of more than 15,000 public school students surveyed in the United States, nearly 30 percent reported occasional to frequent involvement in bullying, whether as a bully, a target, or both. In the United Kingdom, the British Schools Health Education Unit found that a quarter of 10- and 11-year-olds surveyed were bullied either “every day” or “often.” Another report says that about 15 percent of Australian children admit to being bullied weekly.

These numbers may not be astounding. Of course, how one defines the problem may change how one views its prevalence. If calling other children by mean names or excluding them from play constitutes bullying, then perhaps the number would actually be closer to 100 percent.

But for the children who are on the receiving end of the harassment, the numbers really don’t matter.

SUSTAINED OPPRESSION

Most adults would probably define bullying not in so many words but in gut-wrenching memories dredged up from childhood. Social...