Bullying On The Decline Says Who?

I could not believe my ears when HLN reported last Monday that bullying is on the decline. What?According to HLN, reports of physical bullying among children fell from 22% in 2003 to 15% in 2008. Now, I am no expert, but I take serious issue with this study.

First of all, most bullying incidents never get reported. The majority of bully victims suffer in silence. Secondly, physical bullying is just one facet of bullying. The girls are the worst kind of bullies and I'd wager there are a lot more girl bullies than boy bullies. Girls today are just plain mean. They bully in ways that go undetected by the adults around them, especially their parents who will deny their darling little angel would ever say a disparaging word to another child. Give me a break!

So, I say to this HLN report, HOGWASH! For the very day of the report, I received a phone call from a mom in tears over her daughter's distress and anxiety due to 2 girls who had been repeatedly bullying her at school. Two days prior to this report, a friend informed me that her son was bullied at Track and Field practice which is run by a Christian Youth Organization!!! Shameful!

HLN, why don't you put your focus on the fact that 1 in 4 children are bullied every single day in this country???? Let's put that out there and put a stop to it now.