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Written by Lisa Neff, Staff writer
Mar 24, 2011
These days, a grownup Barack Obama knows how to dismiss his bullies from Alaska to Arizona.
But as a kid he suffered when targeted by schoolyard taunts about having big ears and a funny name, the president told a group assembled March 10 at the White House for a landmark conference on bullying.
Intimidation and torment must not be tolerated, Obama told the audience brought together to discuss how best to combat bullying among children.
Bullied children are at higher risk of falling behind in school or dropping out, abusing drugs or alcohol, suffering mental problems and attempting suicide.
The president, in welcoming educators, lawmakers, policy-setters, parents, students and activists, said he hoped the conference would “dispel the myth that bullying is just a harmless rite of passage or an inevitable part of growing up. … Bullying can have destructive consequences for our young people.”
Last fall, a series of unrelated suicides by young gays set off alarms from neighborhood schools to the White House. In most of the more than dozen cases, the young men and boys had complained of being harassed by peers.
The start of the school year “was harrowing for all of us who work on youth and schools issues, painfully reminding us that bullying has far-reaching consequences for young people and for school effectiveness,” said Eliza Byard of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.
Byard attended the White House conference along with other GLSEN representatives.
“Federal leadership is critical to ensure that all young people have an opportunity to get an education,” she said.
Representatives from other LGBT groups also attended the forum, including Jarrett Barrios of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, who called the event a “turning point.”
Attendees heard from researchers and met in small groups to discuss anti-bullying efforts in schools, youth groups, neighborhoods and homes.
The conference coincided with the launch of a new initiative, stopbullying.gov, a resource for parents and educators, as well as the introduction of several safe schools bills in Congress.
