The School Bully Deserves Help

Vancouver, WA – 30 Percent of children in the United States are involved in school bullying according to National Youth Violence Prevention. That is 5.7 million American children who either are bullies or are picked on at school.

“We’ve forgotten to raise our kids with kindness,” says Aaron Taylor, father and author of the new book “The Pumpkin Goblin Makes Friends.” Taylor could blame the changing dynamic of the American family or he could point the finger at the internet for making bullying less personal. “It doesn’t matter to me why kids pick on each other,” he says. “I just want to be able to help stop it.”

Scholastic.com suggests the budding bully needs as much attention as the child who is being victimized. The website reports that being the aggressor as a pre-teen is likely to inhibit positive relationships later in life. In short, the school bully is just as likely to grow up traumatized as the victim.

Taylor’s book “The Pumpkin Goblin Makes Friends” is about a monster with a child’s heart who is inspired to stop picking on neighborhood children and to start mending the relationships he had damaged. "I feel it is very important for children to learn about the harmful affects of bullying at a young age", says Taylor. "If we can reach them before they experience it first-hand, our children will be able to identify and prevent this destructive behavior."

A Columbia University study finds bullying now starts as young as pre-school and intensifies as the angry child ages. More girls bully than boys, but boys tend to be more physical in their attacks. The study goes on to suggest the reason for bullying is the same as the result of it: low self esteem and a lack of friends.

“Reaching kids on their own level is the only way to stop the cycle,” says Taylor. “I geared this book toward young children to show them how unhappy the Pumpkin Goblin is when he picks on the neighborhood children. It isn’t until a little boy befriends him that the big bully realizes how much nicer it is to have friends rather than people who are afraid of you. A central message here is picking on others doesn’t make your pain go away.”

As with most children books, the moral is hidden among rhyming prose and colorful pictures. Taylor suggests reading the book with your young children.

“Give them the tools to not be a bully and give them the ideas of how to make a bully into a friend rather than a rival. Kindness and respect isn’t just the best thing for the kid being attacked - it’s the best thing for the bully too.”