•December 9, 2015•

By Mike Brothers
NP Managing Editor

While at the Sullivan School board meeting this week Student Council President Austin Minnigerode reported on the success of anti-bullying efforts at Sullivan High School.

It made me think about the whole bullying thing and what it was like when I was growing up.

In the south there were a lot of larger families, so bullying was kept in check by older siblings many times in grade school.

I remember in first grade this one guy was getting picked on by a fourth grader every day at lunch.

He was getting shoved around and his lunch money taken from him on a regular basis.

Until his older sister in the sixth grade found out who the bully was. The sister had done her homework and knew exactly how the bully went home from school every day.

So she waited for him. Needless to say the fourth grade bully was never able to look my friend in the eye after that.

It was a self-correcting society in our small town, but high school came along and the old big brother, big sister protection concept went by the wayside, especially if you didn’t have any older brothers or sisters.

Steve Knight and I had been friends since junior high school. We would hang out after school occasionally as freshmen.

Steve was shorter and susceptible to an occasional barb about his height but he took it in a good natured manner.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.