Most adults, when reflecting on their school days, can conjure up images of the taller-than-average, out-of-shape classmate giggling carelessly down the hallways. Like an alligator ready to pounce on its prey, it looks for students who appear smaller and weaker to make fun of them and take their possessions by force. The appropriate term to describe the student who performed these threatening acts is a bully. However, today's bullies may be more than an individual or group that most students fear encountering in the hallways and on the playground. Unfortunately, bullying occurs on a broader and more contagious level. With the advancement of technology, bullying at school has expanded from the usual incidents of intimidation in the classroom to derogatory comments via text messages and social media. In 2011, the U.S. Department of Education, Web Tables reports, “in the 2008-2009 school year, 7,066,000 students ages 8 to 18 reported being bullied at school (5), this number reflects an alarming 28% of 25,217,000 students. Bullying has become a major problem in schools, especially among teenagers. In an effort to provide effective solutions to stop bullying in schools, many point the finger at teachers and administrators. However, while community engagement is essential, curbing and preventing bullying is largely the family's responsibility. A child's behavior is generally a reflection of his or her family life. Before taking an initiative to prevent bullying, it is important to define what bullying is and what drives a child to behave in a bullying manner towards others. Olweus, founder of the Olweus Bullying Prevention program and author of Bullying at school: What We Know and What We Can Do, defines bullying on his website from the victims' perspective. ...... half of the paper ...... ying to school. Children rely on their parents to teach them by example how to live and how to respond to situations. It is the responsibility of parents to teach children responsibility. Works Cited Devoe, Jill and Christina Murphy. “Student Reports of Bullying and Cyberbullying: Results from the 2009 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey.” Web Tables. U.S. Department of Education - National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), August 2011. Web. November 7, 2011. Olweus, Dan. Bullying in School: What We Know and What We Can Do. Blackwell Publishing, 1993. Print.Rigby, Ken. New perspectives on bullying. Jessica Kingsley, 2002. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Network. November 21, 2011.Olweus, Dan. “What is Bullying?” Olweus bullying prevention program. Np, March 6, 2011. Web. November 14, 2011. Created using MLA Citation Maker at www.oslis.org.