I was disappointed to see Susan Bird Charnley’s Oct. 12 letter responding to Robert Friedman’s Oct. 10 Local Opinions piece on bullying. “Grow a backbone and deal”? Being bullied for anything that makes a child feel self-conscious — coming from a dysfunctional family and having low self-esteem, not having “trendy” clothes, being smaller or less adept at sports, being effeminate or shy, having a disability — does nothing but call more attention to an issue with which a child already has embarrassment or guilt. Bullies gang together; the bullied are alone.
Recent suicides by bullying victims show that bullying must be legislated and that the bullies and their parents should be held responsible. Calling cruelty “human nature” is shortsighted and lacks compassion and understanding.