It's me again, the horrible blogger that never remembers to post...

Hi guys. I hope everyone is doing well. I am so sorry that I haven't posted in so long. We have been working really hard to get Adventures of Bear B & Stone: Bully Troubles ready for release. Things are going pretty well, although we are a bit behind our schedule. We are hoping that we will be able to schedule the release date for the first week of August.

In the meantime, I wanted to discuss the epidemic of bullying. Many people young and old do not realize just how often bullying happens. We are led to believe that bullying is what happens when one kid hits another kid over and over again or shoves them in a locker. Maybe even the stereotypical bully who hangs a kid (much smaller than them) by their ankles and "shakes them down" for their lunch money.

Bullying goes much deeper than that. Did you know that when you call someone a name, that too is bullying? Do you realize that every unkind word you've spoken has left a scar on someone's heart? Bullying is any form of abuse or intimidation. Many times, bullies aren't looking to hurt the other person as much as they are attempting to build themselves up. Many bullies were (or are) bullied themselves by someone else.

Your first instinct when someone is hurting you is to fight back. You want to fight for yourself. You want to make them feel as bad as you do. This is not the best way to handle bullying. I know it seems hard, it seems unlikely to work, but the best response is no response at all. Sure, if someone comes at you swinging, get your arms up to protect yourself. However, if the assault is verbal, do nothing. That's right, ignore them. OR (and I know this will shock many of you) say something kind back. Sometimes all a bully needs is to know that they can find a friend in you.

This is true in any situation. Not just for kids. But I think it is important for kids to know that they aren't alone and they are not out of options. Of course, I also encourage any child to seek adult assistance if they find themselves in a situation that makes them scared, uncomfortable or they just don't know what to do. Also, children need to know that if they ever see anyone hurting another person, they should get help immediately. They should be reminded to consider what they would want someone to do if they were in the person's shoes.

I hope that this article has helped some of you to understand how to talk about and handle bullying. We will be announcing the details of our release very soon. (Also, we may soon include an excerpt here on the blog for your reading enjoyment).