Cyberbulling is heartbreaking. We have interviewed so many children who talk about being bullied and harassed on the Internet or via text messages. They cry. Their parents cry. They tell stories about being tortured with cruel words and mean-spirited rumors so foul I cannot repeat them here. Many say it may begin with one bully but before long a whole gang of kids join in the cruelty. And often, despite the victim’s efforts to change passwords and screen names, the bullying continues for months or even years.

But it’s also heartbreaking for me to think of the bullies. How can a child, not that many years from the pure innocence of infancy, be that evil? When I hear (more…)

More: http://www.youtube.com/connectwithkids

More: http://www.youtube.com/connectwithkids

Terrell is 17 years old and maybe he said it best.

“I did a lot of stupid things while I was drunk, like about a thousand things, really.”

I think there are two lessons imbedded in his comment. He is not talking about being stupid after having a drink, having one beer or maybe two. He means he got stupid when he drank way too much, when he got drunk. Many will argue that at the age of 18, 19, 20, kids shouldn’t drink at all but the real problem is that so many kids binge drink, they slug down a 12-pack, or six or eight or 10 drinks at one sitting. They haven’t learned to go slow, to pay attention to the signs that they’re approaching the edge of losing control. In fact, that’s their goal, to feel (more…)

One day my daughter came home from school with a story about a kid who had been bullied. She was in middle school and she had witnessed a bully making fun of another child. I asked her how she responded. She said she watched and listened but didn’t do anything because she didn’t know what to do. As she told me, I saw the beginning of tears in her eyes.

I learned a couple of things about bullying that day. One is that, (more…)