Doctors Fight Back Against Bullying
“When Kevin Epling complained about his eighth-grade son being bullied by upperclassmen, police chalked it up to kids being kids. When Brenda High lobbied legislators in her state to pass anti-bullying legislation, she was surprised at how many blew her off. Bullying, they shrugged, was just part of growing up.
No longer. For the first time, the American Academy of Pediatrics is weighing in on the subject in its official policy on the pediatrician’s role in preventing youth violence. The journal Pediatrics calls upon schools to implement comprehensive anti-bullying programs. The feds, too, have played a role, raising awareness with a campaign called Take a Stand, Lend a Hand: Stop Bullying Now.
In 1998, researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development found that 30 percent of nearly 16,000 6th- to 10th-graders has either bullied other kids or been bullied. ”
