A friend of mine told me last night that her 14 year old relative had committed suicide.  Oh, how my heart breaks for that family!  Today another friend shared an article about a 7 year old who {appears to have} committed suicide.  7 years old!  That was the farthest thing from my mind at that age.  I may have been worried about missing my friends over the summer or not getting to sleep over at a friend’s house one night but never did I think of suicide.  Kids today seem to struggle with something that I didn’t, bullying.

I remember one girl made fun of me the first day I got glasses.  She called me the dreaded “four eyes.”  My friend stuck up for me and life moved on.  Today, there seems to be bullying in school and cyberbullying everywhere else.  I’m not going to pretend to have the solution to this problem but I’m finally realizing that this IS a problem.  It’s not a story the media has blown out of proportion but it’s real and affecting our children.  Talking with our kids about not bullying others and how to react when you’re bullied is a good start.  If you have any insight or ideas on how to stop this spreading epidemic I would love for you to share them in the comments.