Perhaps 2010 will go down as the year bullying appeared on our national radar screen in a big way.

The year when parents and officials began to recognize the severity of the problem, whether it’s cyber bullying or in-person bullying.

The year when headlines told us all that too many kids who were bullied were killing themselves.

Think about that. KILLING themselves.

And that made bullying a topic we should all pay attention to.

Finally.

I don’t know why there seems to be more bullying now than when I grew up. Why people’s differences are targeted more often and with more violence and abuse. Perhaps it’s because differences are more open now. When I grew up, society was far more homogenous.

Of course, overall, these days we’re a lot less civilized society than we ever were. Just turn on Fox News and listen to the hot nastiness they spew. The insults. The shouting. Not civilized. So perhaps it shouldn’t be so surprising that bullying has become more severe. And that it’s finally a water cooler topic.

One really wonderful outcome of this blog is that I’ve met a number of cool people and bloggers. The Soapbox Diva is one.

When I read her powerful post on bullying, I knew I had to share it. She’s been kind enough to allow me to. If the link won’t work, just cut and paste into a browser.

http://thesoapboxdiva.blogspot.com/2011/05/bullying-of-phoebe-prince-and-other.html

The takeaway from her blog (to me) is twofold:

1. Don’t bully.
2. Teach your kids not to bully.

And if your kids are bullied,

3. Get help from officials immediately. Insist on it.

Her blog post illustrates why this is so important.