Each day an estimated 160,000 students in the United States refuse to go to school because they fear physical and verbal aggression of their peers, and the isolation that comes from being the target of rumors and cyber-bullying. Many more attend school in a state of anxiety and depression.

Why not just tell kids to stand up for themselves or pretend it does not bother them?

They’ve most likely already tried both of these interventions before asking us for help.  If these strategies worked, they would already have solved the problem.  Just as we would not tell children grieving over a parental divorce to “forget about it,” we shouldn’t tell targets of bullying, “Don’t let it bother you.”   

Schools Where Everyone Belongs by Stan Davis