A Broad Definition of Bullying
Review by Kim Cantrell
I wanted to skip this week’s Friday Fiction segment to review a book recently published on a serious problem plaguing society: bullycide.
Nope, I didn’t make that term up. It’s a word that was created to describe suicide as the result of bullying.
And I think it’s pathetic that we – supposedly civilized, intelligent human beings – have to even incorporate such into our vocabulary.
Hearing stories such as that of Jared High or, even more recently, Phoebe Prince, has made me more aware of bullying with my own children. So when I was offered a review copy of a new book on the subject by Ouisie Shapiro titled Bullying and Me: Schoolyard Stories, I was interested.
Created with children ages 9 to 14 in mind, Bullying and Me offers thirteen stories from tweens and teens who are, have, or have been bullied. Following each short story (each average only 1 or 2 pages), Dr. Dorothy Espelage offers a short piece of advice based on the preceeding scenario.
Adhering to the standards found in this book, I think bullying has been given too broad of a definition. I don’t wish to downplay this very serious matter, but I believe there is a difference between being bullied and being annoyed.
For example, a kid named Donovan tells a story about another kid who tripped people in the hallways and threw people around the rooms. That’s bullying. But then it’s followed up with a story from a young teen boy named Doug about a school trip where they stayed over night and he was rooming with three other boys.. After watching a scary show on television, one of the boys got scared. When the other two figured out he was afraid, they started making eerie noises and pretended to be demon possessed. I don’t know about this kids, but where I come from that’s called pranks.
Then you’ve got the Dr. Dorothy quips at the end of each story. “Ignore the bullies” and “Find one or two real friends.” Are you friggin’ kidding me?
And don’t even get me started on the one girl who tells the story about living in a gang-infested neighborhood. To the best of my knowledge, the things gangs do makes being bullied seem like going on a picnic. So…nice story, wrong book!
While the actual bullying stories, although obviously heavily edited with their choppy, simple-minded writing style, may appeal to a nine year old, yet it’ll be nothing but humorous reading for a 14 year old.
The end result is that you’ve got a book that essentially dumbed down a serious topic, making a farce out of the subject.
So I will not recommend Bullying and Me: Schoolyard Stories by Ouisie Shapiro to you. Hopefully, however, I’ll receive more books on the subject that will offer some real advice for both parents and children.
Want to read it anyway? Here’s where you can find it:
