As a presenter who lectures to parents and children about bullying, I want to commend Patrick Kohlmann, and his parents. His video portrays his dignity, his steadfast pursuit of what's fair and right, and his concern for all children, not just himself. In creating this video, he is not only rescuing himself, he is motivating others to support him and others like him. This one 13-year-old boy has done more to save himself than any educational program or policy combined. Indeed his parents have much to be proud of.

That said, I want to take this opportunity to explain some basics about bullying. First, when a child gets away with bullying behavior, with no (or minimal) consequences being leveled, the bullying behavior usually increases. We could actually chart Patrick's attacks on a graph, and watch the level of offense steadily rise. Beginning with verbal assaults, moving to being held upside down, and culminating with being attacked with a rock, the escalation in severity of attacks is typical when bullying is not remediated quickly.

Second, bullying is a term that really means harassment or abuse, offenses that when perpetrated by adults are punishable by our courts. This is something every parent of a bully should take seriously. When you combine these facts, the results are plain and the statistics are strong: large percentages of childhood bullies mature into adult criminals.

While many feel that bullies are over-confident on one hand, or compensating for some insecurity on the other, the issue is not what they are abundant in, but instead what they are lacking, empathy. Parents of bullies need to get their children involved in acts that focus on and tend to other people's needs. Go help out at a soup kitchen, visit children in a hospital or orphanage, donate clothes to people living in a shelter. You get the idea, good old-fashioned community service, the more the better. The truth is that when a bully graduates the school will breathe a sigh of relief, thinking that's one less problem to deal with. Yet the parents of the bully will suffer the consequences of their inaction for decades to come.

The perpetrator of this offense hit his victim over the head with a rock. If he were an adult he could be charged with assault, battery, possibly even attempted murder. We need schools to respond swiftly and effectively, but parents must take these behaviors seriously too. If not, parents of bullies might as well start saving for a lawyer's fund; because if escalating, aggressive bullying goes unchecked, there's a good chance they'll need that more than the college fund.

Renée Haber