The name-calling, taunting and threatening that nearly one in five teens--and close to half of all middle-school students--report having experienced has extended beyond school grounds to the Internet, encroaching upon the safety of a child's home. When she learned that her daughter was being picked on in first grade for using a Star Wars water bottle, Carrie Goldman wrote a blog post that quickly went viral as hundreds of readers--including geeky girls, effeminate boys, children with disabilities and members of the GLBT community--responded with their own stories of being bullied or being a bully.
Bullied incorporates Goldman's experience with those of her blog readers, adding extensive research and analysis by experts, to question the role gender-specific toys and clothes play in identifying those who might be "different." She believes that it is only through confronting and changing the stereotypes that define girls as "sexy" and boys as "hyper" or "tough" that bullying will end. This relearning can begin at a very early age, but it should also extend into changing the attitudes of parents and other adults. Goldman provides readers with surveys to identify the type of mistreatment their children suffer and with techniques to implement at home and at school to counteract the effects of a bullying attack. She also includes techniques to help the bully stop his/her aggressive behavior. Bullied is a constructive and informative tool toward creating a more empathetic world for all. --Lee E. Cart, freelance writer and book reviewer