Each day, 10-year-old Seth asked his mom for more and more lunch
money. Yet he seemed skinnier than ever and came home from
school hungry. It turned out that Seth was handing his lunch
money to a fifth-grader, who was threatening to beat him up if
he didn’t pay. Kayla, 13, thought things were going well at her
new school, since all the popular girls were being so nice to
her. But then she found out that one of them had posted mean
rumours about her on a website. Kayla cried herself to sleep
that night and started going to the nurse’s office complaining
of a stomach ache to avoid the girls in study hall.
Unfortunately, the kind of bullying that Seth and Kayla
experienced is widespread. In national surveys, most kids and
teens say that bullying happens at school. A bully can turn
something like going to the bus stop or recess into a nightmare
for kids. Bullying can leave deep emotional scars that last for
life. And in extreme situations, it can culminate in violent
threats, property damage, or someone getting s