Early in the 2016-17 school year, DeMarcus*—a fifth-grader in Montgomery, Alabama—had his first encounter with bullying.
His grandmother, Erma Freeman, knew DeMarcus as a strong-willed kid and initially did not worry much about the incident. She told DeMarcus to either brush it off or to stand up to the bullies.
But within a matter of weeks, Freeman found herself bribing DeMarcus to go to school, scheduling counseling appointments for him and making frequent trips to the school and the central office to try and get help.
The bullying continued. By late November, DeMarcus, who has epilepsy, began having seizures again—his first in three years.
After his 10th seizure in just a few weeks and numerous missed school days, Freeman decided it was better for her grandson to be homeschooled. In all, she estimates DeMarcus missed at least 15 days of classes due to the bullying he experienced.
DeMarcus is not alone. Across the United States, students miss thousands of school days each year due to issues, such as anxiety, fear and illnesses, directly tied to the bullying they experience. Those absences, compounded with other negative effects of bullying, cost students and teachers precious classroom time and also have a little-realized financial impact on schools.
[For more on this story by Josh Moon, go to https://www.tolerance.org/maga...-and-the-bottom-line]
ILLUSTRATION BY RYAN INZANA
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