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Bullying a national tragedy
As I opened USA Today on Jan. 25, a headline to an article in big bold letters caught my eye: “Bullying: Are We Defenseless?”, written by Bruce Kluger.
After reading it through, I was stunned. One child or teen in America commits suicide every five hours. How can this be possible?
I tried to place the names Amanda and Kameron with the faces of the two beautiful, innocent, aspiring young people who took their lives and my heart sank even deeper.
Kluger asks “how many more … children must we lose … before bullying is elevated to the level of national emergency?” He asks, “how many more broken hearts must parents and families endure?”
We were able to go to the moon and back. We can and we must address this national tragedy. Parents, grandparents, teachers, physicians, friends and neighbors: we can’t allow any more precious young souls to have their lives cut short because they are victims of bullying.
Halina Slobodow
Spokane