Standing up to bullies

An estimated 30 percent of children in grades six through 10 are bullying or being bullied themselves.

Some children grow up and overcome being bullied. Michelle Pfeiffer, Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson were bullied when they were children. They dealt with it. Donald Trump and Bobby Knight didn't.

Sadly, bullies or their effects often make news, from Columbine to Saddam Hussein.

A program begun this year by Karen Buchheit, a detective in the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department, attempts to help stop some of the bullying behavior that occurs every day in our schools.

The Southeast Missouri Regional Professional Development Center in Cape Girardeau will sponsor a seminar on bullying March 15. The target audience is administrators, counselors and teachers.

Physical bullying often is obvious. Social bullying, usually inflicted through unkind words, is more insidious and rampant. These days some bullies are using text messages to threaten their victims.

Good schools are teaching children how to spot bullying behavior and techniques for thwarting it. A recent event at Alma Schrader Elementary School called "Bystanders Unite" taught students that it's wrong to stand by and do nothing while someone is being bullied.

Perhaps there have always been bullies and always will be, but we as a society are wrong to stand by and do nothing about it. Programs such as these are a start.