Why Do Kids Bully?

Whether you see it or not, bullying happens every day. And even though campaigns like I Choose and It Gets Better are bringing awareness to the issue, are things getting better?

Today as I came into work, there was a teenage girl in the parking lot who appeared to be waiting for a ride. There was also a jeep full of other teenagers next to her.

Now I don't know what was being said, but it obviously wasn't good and it must have been going on for a while, because next thing I know a woman from the tanning salon next door popped her head out to ask this girl if she was okay. She said she was, but she didn't look very happy.

I was incredibly impressed with the woman from the tanning salon. So many people would have just ignored the situation, as I'm pretty sure plenty of people coming in and out of the lot did. But it just made me wonder about these kids in the Jeep.

How could they not feel bad about what they were doing? How can you just sit next to another human being and hurl insults at them?

I mean I understand that everyone in the world isn't going to be friends, that we all can't just get along and live happily ever after. But to blatantly hurt someone's feelings just to see them get hurt is just not something I could do.

Honestly, I don't like everyone I meet, but I would never be mean to someone just because I don't like them. And I don't think I could sit back and watch my friends treat someone like that either.

I know peer pressure is much different in high school and standing up for yourself or someone else can feel like an impossible task, but is it just peer pressure that leads kids to bully?

It happens every day, but why does it keep happening? What is it that makes kids bully?