Subscribe To our E-Newsletter Taking Bullying by the Horns In
the corner of a sunlit classroom at Torah Academy, three sixth-
grade girls gossiped about an upcoming party. A few feet away,
well within earshot, a lone girl sat staring down at her desk,
careful not to look up from the drawing she was doodling. "I
wish I was invited," she mumbled to herself. "Why do they hate
me?" Fortunately for her, this blatant exclusion was just
pretend, part of a skit designed to teach kids how to identify
and stop bullying. Nationally, bullying has become a hot topic
in recent years, fueled by the uncharted challenges of dealing
with such behavior in cyberspace and a rash of suicides
committed by teenagers who were allegedly tormented to the
breaking point. Nonprofit groups have ramped up workshops on the
subject, states have enacted anti-bullying laws and public
schools have begun requiring character education. But it wasn't
until more recently that a handful of local Jewish agencies and
day schools began experimenting wit