“Eva is extremely unhappy in her new school，”a friend told me a few months ago。They had moved to another city which for Eva made a change in schools necessary。“It really hurt me to see Eva suffer，”my friend said，“but only after I really insisted that she told me the real reason。She is being bullied by some of her classmates。”
Bullying can become a serious issue in a school class。And just as in a company，one mean spirited person can destroy a former good climate。In the case of my friend's daughter the case seemed simple to me。Her daughter Eva has always been a very good student。It was not that she studied harder；she just had no problems in remembering what she read or learned in a school lesson。But her talented spirit was not accompanied by a pretty appearance。And of course she knows that。In a period of life when young girls and boys—even without any problems—have a hard time to find out who they are and what they want to be，criticizing what you cannot change is a cruel thing。Eva is 15 years old。As adults we know that during the teenager years a face can look quite“unfinished”。A girl or a boy not very attractive at that age might look different a few years later。But what does that help at the time？Nothing。
Bullying sometimes is connected with hitting，pushing or other physical violence，in the case of Eva is was psychological terror。And that hurt even more。Giggling when she walked by，passing around a comic of her profile with a slightly too big nose，leaving her out on purpose，talking about birthday parties she never gets invited too。Her classmates were pretty innovative when it came to hurting her。Of course my friend asked Eva what the reason for such behavior could be，but there was no real explanation。The question was：what could be done？