No More Bullying? Not.

In researching my contemporary YA novel, Sudden Sisters, I noticed a misunderstanding in some around me that bears real discussion. You see, the novel focuses on two main characters, one of whom has been (and still is) relentlessly bullied by the other.

Young beta readers have contributed to the development of this material, sharing experiences and even suggesting tactics that might be used by a bully who routinely gets away with so much cruelty toward another, both outside of and within school settings.

In speaking with one friend, I was surprised to hear the following statement, made almost as if dismissively of the pronounced bullying in my book: “That doesn’t really go on in schools anymore, since they trains teachers now in how to spot and stop it.”

NOT! (Well, the training certainly goes on, but how effective it is might be subject to debate.)

In my experience, the notion that bullying in schools is no longer a problem couldn’t be more false.

We’ve known for decades how harmful bullying is, and how many ways there are to carry it out. Ever since Rosalind Wiseman first published her influential book, Queen Bees and Wannabes (2002, Three Rivers Press), parents and teachers have programed, strategized, and regulated students of all ages, starting in early education, away from the culture of bullying that Wiseman’s research shed so much light on for parents and teachers.

Yet, according to the young people I know, and the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly 20% of students ages 12–18 reported being bullied during school in 2020-21. The percentage was higher for female students (22%) than males (17%), but no matter how it divides, this is a lot of students—25.8 million, to be exact.^

In YA literature today, bullying as a major theme is receding compared to a decade and more ago, yet the subject remains common, often being shown or embedded within storylines, even if not defining them. For YA books to include bullying can help young readers as much or more in their own coping process, if bullying is part of their lives. A good book about how a character successfully deals with the experience of being bullied might model for readers ways they can get through it, too.

Despite so many visible efforts underway today to support students and parents dealing with bullying, and so much effort aimed at preventing it in schools, we should nevertheless remember that bullying remains an active, harmful force in young people’s lives today. In schools, and out.

I hope that one day my novel, Sudden Sisters, can serve its readers, as other YA books have done. The book presents a character who goes from oppressed to heroic in her journey to find agency. And, in the process, she forges an ironic, indelible bond with the very one who has long tormented her! Who would ever have imagined—a unique friend from a worst enemy?

^https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=719#:~:text=In%202021–22%2C%20about%2019,–11%20(28%20percent).&text=In%202021–22%2C%20among%20students,happened%20online%20or%20by%20text.