I make it a practice to stay away from daily news programs or the newspaper. Occasionally, I will make a point to read/hear about a story, some I hear "peripherally." Sometimes I'll take a peek at CNN.COM to see what's what.

The other day, CNN.COM had this article, "U.S. study finds bullying common in schools." The focus is on the long-term affects of children that are bullied regularly. In part, "People who were bullied as children are more likely to suffer from depression and low self esteem, well into adulthood, and the bullies themselves are more likely to engage in criminal behavior later in life."

Well, thank GOD they did a whole study to find that out. I have just one comment; "No, kidding Sparky!" What a no-brainer. I mean, seriously, did you ever see a child who was bullied on a regular basis walk around like "I'm all that, oh yes I am!" NO.

Another article states, "Bullying and teasing are cited as the top school troubles of students, ages 8 to 15, in a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. With report findings indicating that most young people aren't affected or helped by sporadic talks with their parents, experts said it was crucial for parents and their children to develop an ongoing dialogue about various important issues, starting at an early age. Of these issues, students of various ages said bullying was far more common than drinking, drugging, racism or sex at their schools."

Of course sporadic talks with their parents don't help. What can the parents do about the bullies? Truly. The parents can only do their best to boost the self-esteem of the child, and somehow explain to the child that "Some people just do mean things. We don't know why so-n-so makes nasty comments and does rude things to you. Just ignore them."

How does that truly help? The parents can go to the school officials, but that doesn't seem to stop the harassment either, and can sometimes make things worse. "Oh, you're MOMMY is fighting your battles now, huh?" I've seen a bit of this already at Punkin's daycare. I don't want her to go through any of this. I didn't do well with it. How am I going to teach her that, no matter what anyone says, if she respects herself and has self-confidence, any bullying could just bounce off of her? How do I teach her to respect others so she doesn't become a bully?

Yes, I was picked on when I was in school. It started with a group of girls in sixth grade, and continued until I graduated from high school. That's a hell of a long time to put up with that. I never understood how some people can just be so mean. I still remember some of their names. One girl in particular thoroughly enjoyed tormenting me. Lisa W. She had fingernails like claws and began a scratching fest on me. She tried to set fire to the coat I was wearing one day while we were waiting for the bus.

Talking with my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Williamson, whom I loved dearly, helped a bit. Talks with the principal in junior high helped a bit less. High school was better because there were more targets to share the torment. I hated the way going to school made me feel, and I couldn't wait to be done with it.

How do we find a solution for this? Some kids bully because they were/are bullied somewhere else. If they didn't like being bullied, why put someone else through it?

Wouldn't it be great if schools taught with this lesson plan? "Be sure to explain the seriousness of the activity to your students by helping them realize that these acts of disrespect cause many students to feel alienated and depressed. The reason for this activity is to help them gain empathy, determine ways to reverse these disrespectful practices and help students who are teased or bullied to become empowered."

Empowered to do what? Bully back? Dust off the negativity like lint? Or just look the bully in the eye and say "You are the weakest link. Goodbye."

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