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A parent recently sought help addressing an individual bullying her child. When she provided more details, it became apparent the bully was not another student, but rather a high school basketball coach. One afternoon, the mother was early picking up her daughter from practice, so she went into the gym. She found the head coach screaming at the team that they lacked intelligence and were lazy because they had not executed a play properly. Horrified by this behavior, the mother waited until practice was over, then confronted the coach, telling him what she had observed and how upset she was by the screaming and name-calling. The coach responded by refocusing the conversation on the mother’s own transgression: parents knew that no one was allowed in the gym during practice “for safety reasons.” The mother felt as though she had to defend her own behavior. After the incident, she began asking around and discovered this coach had a long history of intimidating his athletes. She was not just witnessing a “bad day,” so she reported her concerns to the school and, again, was confused by the response. The principal told her he had spoken to the coach and the coach had apologized. He explained that the coach was very successful and won a state title last year, but sometimes got “overexcited.” Confused and angered by the school’s and coach’s reactions, she went to her pediatrician for advice.
Although the study of bullying has made considerable strides over the last 2 decades, the definition remains vague. Bullying is generally defined as a systematic abuse of power, …
Address correspondence to Nancy L. Swigonski, MD, MPH, Children’s Health Services Research, Indiana University School of Medicine, 410 W 10th St, HS Suite 1000, Indianapolis, IN 46202. E-mail: nswigons{at}iupui.edu
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