From WBZ-TV in Boston:DOVER, Mass. -- It's an annual rite of passage as thousands of kids head back to school this week. Some will be nervous about their teachers, or taking algebra for the first time. Others will be anxious for another reason. They are scared of being bullied.
Experts say this type of intimidation, both physical and emotional, is on the rise. Last spring, a Springfield boy took his own life after being bullied at school. Now there is an effort on several fronts to make sure that doesn't happen again.
Brigitte Berman of Dover looks like any other high school sophomore, but she's actually a published author. Her book, "Dorie Witt's Guide to Surviving Bullies" has just been released.
"She is just like everybody else," Brigitte says of her protagonist. "She goes through bullying and doesn't always know how to deal with it."
Neither did Brigitte's sister Margot when she was cyber-bullied.
"It was actually quite horrible," Brigitte says. "There were lesbian comments, and saying because she was hanging out with girls, who were her best friends, she was a lesbian. Any they had really snide remarks targeted at her."
Whether it's an instant message, a text, or hallway gossip, experts agree that bullying is getting worse. By one estimate, 30 percent of students today are involved in some aspect of bullying.
They are students like Carl Johnson, the 11-year-old Springfield boy who took his own life. He hanged himself in his bedroom. His mother found him. She says classmates were calling him gay and saying he acted like a girl.
It's a story heard all too often. The case of Ryan Halligan of Vermont made national headlines when he committed suicide in 2003 after being constantly bullied.
State Sen. Anthony Galluccio of Cambridge has filed a bill requiring all Massachusetts schools to develop a bullying-prevention plan.
"If someone calls you fat, or makes fun of you because of your sexual orientation, or your body weight, or your skin color, your immediate reaction is, 'Maybe something's wrong with me,'" Galluccio explains.
Galluccio attended Carl Johnson's funeral and hopes his death wasn't in vain.
"If that can't be a motivating and driving force for us to start to get to that stuff early, I don't know what can," he sayd.
He added that students today really need this type of protection. "This stuff is happening on a daily basis," he says.
One of the reasons bullying has gotten worse is that bullies can now hide in the shadows of today's technology.
"Cyber-bulling has definitely changed bullying itself," Brigitte says, "because when they post things anonymously, using Photoshop, the possibilities are endless for a bully who is an evil mastermind."
Brigitte hopes a person that like can be taken down a peg by a fictitious girl named Dorrie. "You don't have to love everybody, but you have the respect them."
Brigitte's book isn't just a story. It's filled with ideas and resources to help young people better deal with bullies. Brigitte's mother thinks this book will reach teenagers effectively since it was written by a peer.
Experts say parents shouldn't expect a child to come forward and say they are being bullied. You have to look for clues, such as a sudden depression, a bought of anxiety, or loss of appetite.
