Bullies Target Obese Kids

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ANON of TX 5:54PM May 03, 2010

How much money was wasted on this research? Bullying of the kid that's heavier, wears glasses, has a stutter, or some other physical difference, and those that are just a little different because of a hair cut or clothes, etc. is not new. Nor surprising that it's true regardless of whether there's 2 different kids or 12 in a class.

These "experts" need to stop stating the obvious and start addressing the heinous actions that occur today that they label as "bullying." This isn't school yard taunts, it's malicious hateful acts by budding sociopaths. Cases like Phoebe Prince transcend typical childhood bullying but it's labeled "bullying" because the criminals are under the age of 18.

To put in perspective, if the activity they engaged in at school and online towards her had been perpetrated by adults, it wouldn't be called "bullying" but would be identified correctly as harassment, stalking, slander, libel, battery, and rape. Things adults file police reports about and get restraining orders against. Imagine if this kind of behavior happened in the workforce. Would it be called "bullying?" I don't think so.

*(Not to get on a rant regarding this one case, it's just fresh in everyone's mind.)*

Experts need to start focusing on getting to core issues instead of pontificating a lot of nonsense about the obvious. Find out WHY sociopathy has become so prevalent among our youth? You got your degrees, try using them productively for a change instead of hoping to make a sound byte.

Kit of NY 4:20PM May 03, 2010

My mother raised me to eat until I'm full, because growing up, she never was. This, along with a decent amount of laziness on my part, has contributed to me being tubby. It was one of the biggest things that people decided to pick on about me growing up. Of course it didn't help that I was a nerd, but still, the other nerds were pretty much left alone, because they were skinny. A favorite game of the bullies, namely the cheerleaders whose parents could afford gym memberships for them, was to run circles around me on the playground screaming, "eat less, you fat cow!", "Tubby tubby, two-by-four, can't get through the classroom door!", and "Gee, Amie, if you run into anyone we'll have to call the emergancy room!" This did nothing good for my self esteem, but wonders for the sarcastic portion of my brain. I was lucky, in that I could come up with things to say right back, but it has left a deep and abinding mark on me and my self-esteem. The point, however, is that this is obviously not a new thing. There was no reason to conduct a study about this--just ask any child under the age of 16 if the fat kids are the least popular. They'll tell it like it is, with no sugar-coating about how they're really nice or they have such good personalities. All this might be true, and probably is true, of obese kids, but other kids, and many adults, don't care. Since we as a society aren't allowed to make fun of people for much, we go for the only group still available for torture: fatties. I'm still overweight, and I struggle with it every day. I don't eat fast food, I excercise, and I'm slowly loosing the pounds, but day after day I see parents teaching their kids by example that it's alright to tease the fat people, and none of this will change until the parents do.

Amie of OH 4:10PM May 03, 2010

How is this new information? Children who are over-weight, not necessarily obese, have been teased and/oor bullied forever. I agree it's a problem, but as one who was a chuuby kid, this is nothing that anyobne should have had to spend a dime on to understand. This is an example of a PhD with no common sense thinking they've discovered soemthing new.

Steve of CA 3:44PM May 03, 2010