Has "innocent teasing" turned into outright bullying?

British child expert Tim Gill says that coping with bullies is 'part of growing up', according to the Evening Standard. "Youngsters must learn to cope with teasing and name-calling so they are able to handle awkward situations as adults", Gill says. Hmmm... sounds like Gill opened up a can of whoop ass once or twice in his day. Bully!

Is Gill missing the big picture here? Has teasing turned into a much bigger threat to the well being of our children or are we as parents, trying to shield our kids from feeling pain?

There are two kinds of adults. The ones who were teased as kids and those who did the teasing. Frankly, you can spot the teasers from 100 feet. They're still kind of jerks. But for many of those who were teased, it was a case of "that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger." It sucked, but you got through it and moved on.

But now that we're parents, the teasing between children doesn't feel the same as it did years ago. It seems like kids are bigger, tougher, and armed with weapons; mostly mouths, fists, etc. (but occasionally something much more dangerous.) And don't even get us started on the Internet! Cyber bullies now can taunt children in the comforts of their own home. Has the teasing game gotten meaner or are we just over-protective?