Washington - School bullying is not a rite of passage for the youth, President Barack Obama said on Thursday as part of an initiative to change the way Americans perceive the dangerous behaviour.
Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama addressed school administrators, teachers and parents at a White House conference on bullying prevention, where they launched the website stopbullying.gov.
“If there's one goal of this conference, it's to dispel the myth that bullying is just a harmless rite of passage or an inevitable part of growing up,” Obama said. “Bullying can have destructive consequences for our young people.”
“As parents, it breaks our hearts to think that any child feels afraid every day in the classroom, or on the playground, or even online,” Michelle Obama said.
The conference highlighted public-private partnerships to address bullying, including initiatives by Facebook and the MTV music channel.
President Obama shared his own experience with bullying as a child.
“I have to say, with big ears and the name that I have, I wasn't immune,” he said to laughter. “I didn't emerge unscathed.” - Reuters