I was in sixth grade, eating lunch with a friend I wanted to impress, when another girl from our class came over to compliment my shirt. Instead of responding with gratitude, I made an insulting, unkind comment about her body. The next day, I discovered from a teacher the damage I had done to that girl. I had acted like a bully.

Or had I? Some professionals may not have defined my action as bullying but rather as meanness, for it was a single comment – cruel nevertheless – delivered on only one occasion. But could it have turned into something more had a caring teacher not stepped into the picture?

Julie Hertzog, Director of PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center was interviewed for this article written by teen author, Sydney Pope.

Read the article.

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