Beat it, bullies

Today some colleagues and I discussed teenage pranks and how things that in the past were cause for a parental scolding or eyeball-rolling are now cause for criminal charges, suspension from school and other zero-tolerance responses.

We adults sometimes do enforce rules too rigidly, so afraid to make an exception that we end up with consistent but ridiculous consequences. But there's one topic I'm glad to see adults taking seriously. That's bullying.

The idea that merciless teasing, intimidation and physical abuse is normal adolescent hazing is warped. Nobody learns to be "strong" that way, and there are far better means to learn to stand up for one's self. The victim is scarred by the behavior but so too, in less obvious ways, are the bully and onlookers.

No one is ever going to entirely prevent kids from being mean to each other, but making one kid a target and repeatedly harassing or intimidating him cannot be tolerated. On Tuesday, the Ohio State Board of Education will adopt anti-bullying guidelines, and local school districts will be expected to subsequently adopt their own version.

As with any rules for children, there's a need for common sense. But "kids will be kids" should never be a license for adults to look the other way or for children and adolescents to make a peer's life miserable.