TV Special Focuses On Dangers Of Bullying
DETROIT (WWJ-TV) - As the new school year begins, 160,000 kids will stay home every day because they are afraid of being bullied. That's one of the startling facts uncovered in a CBS News 48 Hours Investigation.
48 Hours Correspondent Tracy Smith said schools are trying to deal with the problem.
"A lot of schools maybe hold a seminar, they have an anti-bullying policy as part of their student handbook and that's about it," said Smith.
"So, that's one of the things that these parents who have lost children to bullying are trying to get passed is some sort of uniformity, whether it's a state law or something. This is particularly true in Michigan, they've been trying to do this," she said.
Smith has been looking into the tragic consequences of bullying.
"There are more than 150 cases of kids who committed suicide after they were bullied since 1983. There's some parents who have been taking care of that, and that's the extreme," Smith said.
The 48 Hours Special "Bullying: Words Can Kill" airs Friday, September 16 at 8 p.m. on WWJ-TV, CBS Detroit.
