When I was growing up I can honestly say that I was bullied. I was an awkward kid and from elementary school through junior high I never really fit into the cool crowd and found myself the but end of a lot of jokes and pranks. Some of the highlights of these include having my underwear frozen, waking up with shaving cream and toothpaste in my hair and being made fun of because I couldn't play sports like the rest of the kids my age. All that being said, I never remember being bullied to the point where I would contemplate suicide and I always had a group of friends that I could turn to even though they were bullied as well.
Bullying nowadays has taken on a whole new dimension. It's not just that you are the butt end of jokes and pranks anymore. Nowadays, bullying is much more vicious and with the rise of technology such as Facebook, blogs and text messaging hundreds of thousands of people can participate and see the ridicule that is dished out upon you. I would not want to be a young person in this day and age. And bullying doesn't just stop at school. More and more we are finding bullying happening in our local churches: a place that is supposed to be a safe haven from that kind of behavior.
Because of that I would like to recommend a book for every person who works in youth and young adult ministry to read. It's entitled "Bullying: A Spiritual Crisis" by Ronald Hecker Cram. This book, unlike other bullying books that are out there, looks at bullying from in spiritual perspective. It helps people of faith understand why and how this critical social issue is a faith issue as well and more for my how they can deal with bullying when it occurs. The best part of this book is not Cram’s thesis but rather the appendix that includes lots of resources that one can turn to help you better understand bullying and how to prevent it. I would highly recommend that everyone who works with youth and young adults get a copy of this book and familiarize yourself with it.
One last thought. I believe bullying is probably the most crucial social issues facing youth and young adults today. It's far outweighs the traditional social problems that we tend to think of with this age group. In fact I would go so far as to say that bullying has become an epidemic especially to the marginalized in our society. I believe that every local church youth program should have an absolute zero tolerance to bullying in its program and that you should educate youth and young adults on how they can combat bullying at school.
