The Tangled Ball Theory

Flipping through the channels or reading the paper, the subject of bullying seems to be getting more and more attention. Even Oprah is tackling it. But when I started to research it for myself after watching Columbine unfold, I realized it was so much more than stereotypical Jock-Or-Nerd social strife. It’s about superiority, inferiority, self-esteem, empowerment, communication, sadness and a lot of confusion.

In short, it’s a tangled ball.

I have a library of books and have been in and out of many meetings and conventions across the country about all types of bullying. After all of the reading, listening and networking, one thing is clear: there is no “one size fits all” solution. Each strand, each perspective needs to be “untangled” one home at a time.

So here’s the first example of a bullying situation. Each bullying situation is different but it happens absolutely everywhere. Obviously, we’re not crazy enough to use real names but everything else is true. We’ll spell out the situation and how adults handled it.

Next, we’ll bring in the experts.