8/24/2002 The Paducah Sun
		Students at McNabb learn to stop bullying
		By Molly Harper  The Paducah Sun
		Everyone is a bully, Merrill McCubbin told McNabb Elementary School students Friday, but sometimes they don't realize they're pushing people around,  There are two kinds of bullies:  the major bully, a menacing figure who takes kids' lunch money, and the sly "minor" bully, who calls people names, leaves people out and gossips.  Even adults are guilty of bullying, McCubbin said, reminding the staff how they react when stuck behind a person "doing a full makeover" while driving 25 mph in a 35 mph zone,  "If you know what bullying is, it's easier to stop," said McCubbin, a presenter for Norfolk, Va.-based MerMan Productions, "Some people say that it's just part of growing up, but that's not true, You do not have to be bullied ~ ever.  McCubbin performs "Bully You, Bully Me, Learn to be Bully Free"  in about 40 schools each month in 16 states surrounding .Virginia The program was the first step in a yearlong effort by family resource centers to combat bullying at Paducah schools In a poll three months ago 71 percent of McNabb's third- though fifth-graders reported feeling bullied,  "But this isn't just something that affects McNabb," said school counselor Debbie Curtis, "This is becoming a nationally recognized health problem. A lot of children are being hurt, because they're  victims to emotional bullying -		being left-out, being teased, It's not just physical bullying... If the staff knows how to recognize it and the students know what to do when they see it or they're bullied may be we can stop it."        Fifth-grader Chellandria Cole said she'll try to avoid being a minor bully in the coming school year.  "Picking on people isn't very nice; I know that,' she said.. "But sometimes you don't know you're doing it. I think this is going to make people feel safer here at school, because we know how to tell! people what's happening now,"    McCubbin advised the, students to know what role they play in  bullying scenario ~ bully, victim or witness. He also said to stay away from areas where there is trouble, yell for help and tell the nearest adult when there's a problem,   "The difference between telling and tattling is that you tattle on someone to get them in trouble and you tell on someone to get them out of trouble," he said, adding that most bullies are being bullied themselves, and the only thing that makes them feel belief is picking on someone who appears weaker.   Curtis said the school's parent teacher organization recently purchased the "Steps to Respect"   curriculum targeting third- through fifth-graders, which will be implemented throughout the school year.