A Look at a New England Patriots Player and his Lifelong Struggle with Bullying

What are some of the characteristics of someone who has been bullied?

Vulnerable?  
Appearing to be different?
Short in stature?
Downtrodden?
A loner?
Negative body language, such as looking down when walking in the hallways of the school, or sitting with his shoulders slumped?

All of the above are characteristics of someone who has been or is being bullied, among many other characteristics…
Teaching a child to combat being bullied is very difficult. (Check out this blog post). It can be accomplished, however. That being said, learning how to stop being bullied is a long process. As part of that process, we teach the child to be assertive and communicate to the bully that the bullying behavior must stop.

Even though being assertive works in most instances to diminish the bullying that children must endure, in most cases, the bullying takes its toll on those who have been the targets of the bullying for their entire lives.
It is encouraging but rare to hear of someone who has achieved great success as an adult after he or she has been bullied for a large proportion of their life. These individuals appear to have some inner strength that is well beyond the guts and grittiness that characterizes those children who have not been bullied.

The following is an article that my son, Ian (who is the Patriots beat writer for the Boston Herald) wrote about Antwaun  Molden, a cornerback. He talked to Ian about his lifelong struggle with bullying.

THIS IS THE ARTICLE