I fear that too many of us have known some element of bullying in school. I was fortunate, I suppose, that it only happened to me for a short while when I was very little.

But it continues to this day in our schools and sometimes the tragic outcome is reported in the newspapers.

You’re right about Columbine, Roberta. And all the other tragedies. When I wrote this piece I could not contemplate making it as dark as the reality that exists out there. I quite literally could not bring myself to write something so bleak and hideous.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for your comments.

The sad thing really is that bullying does mark a child for life, to one degree or another.

And bullies clearly have their own demons to exorcise. I know of one little boy who was a bully at school whose parents used to treat him very badly.

That reflected in his own behaviour at school.

I’ve seen a number of news articles recently where young children have suffered so much that they have taken their own lives. It’s haunted me and this was one way of dealing with it.

I was particularly upset to read about one young boy who had sought help from an adult. The adult joined in the verbal bullying. The end result was tragic.

Sometimes re-creating an event in fiction can make it less unpleasant. More manageable.

How that poor boy’s parents cope with the stark reality I just don’t know.

I agree with you, though, that the topic is a horrible one. For every person who literally ends it all, I’m sure there are at least a thousand who are destroyed internally, never able to recover from the mental scars of bullying.

The odd thing is, and I would agree with you that those without compassion can seem inhuman, but often the bullies are at least as afraid as their victims. Many of them seem trapped in some awful cycle of hurting others before they can be hurt themselves.