Two Ways to Look at It

There are multiple aspects to the "bullying issue", but let's simplify it as much as we can.
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1. There is a person who bullies.
2. There is a victim.

For much of the time, parents and educators reduce it even further to say there is a "bullying issue"; that is, we reduce it as follows:
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1. There is a bully.​

But is that fair?  Bullying will, without a doubt, always be with us.  We certainly must deal with the kid who bullies other kids, but we often fail to address the person on the receiving end, as well.  We've learned that in our fourth grade classroom.

There is a great need to let students solve their own problems, but there is also a dire need for explicit teaching for both the bullier and the bullied.  Yes, that's right:  I am a teacher.  I teach kids how to solve problems.  I try very hard not to solve their problems for them.  I know exactly what Brooks Gibbs is saying in the video above.

​We've heard many times about how words can indeed hurt a person, but I still used that line.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

I still believe it to be true - that this is a slogan that deserves to be repeated by the victim (The video really explains this better.).  So, the way I look at it is this:  for the person who bullies, words will hurt someone, but for the victim, you can't let them.