There’s been an inordinate amount of time spent discussing and relating the concept – and practice – of bullying in the news lately, from a recent local episode of what some consider an epidemic of sorts facing our area’s youth to the national level: students and children beaten, taunted and traumatized to the edge of their limits.

There has also, of course, been a great deal of time spent discerning the “philosophy” of the bully, not to mention several simple questions that pop up again and again ... why do people bully others in the first place? Is bullying worse now than it was then (say 20 years ago or so)? And who – or what – is to blame for bullying as we understand it now in the 21st century?

Believe it or not, there are answers to these questions. The only problem? Most people (including parents) can’t be – or refuse to be – bothered with learning those answers.