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The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that approximately one hundred sixty thousand children skip school each day in order to avoid facing their bullies and being picked on at school. For those who are bullied, the results of being subjected to repeated abuse run the gamut from simply emerging from that phase of their adolescence with a thicker skin, to suicide, and everything in between. For some girls, especially those who are targeted due to weight issues, persistent bulling may actually cause a girl to develop an eating disorder, either during the period of bullying or later on in adolescence or young adulthood.

The CDC’s National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Centers has determined that roughly one third of all children in the US, almost six million, are either a bully, a victim of bullying, or both. Students in sixth through tenth grades self-reported that thirteen percent were bullies, eleven percent were victims, and six percent were both bullies and victims. It is also believed that girls are more likely to be victims of bullying, especially when the bullying involved spreading of rumors about the victim or directing sexual comments to the victim. When it comes to bullying, adolescent girls are a particularly vulnerable group as most are already insecure and have low self-esteem. This leads to an inability to defend themselves when they become victims of bullies.

The mother of an eleven year old girl (for anonymity, we’ll call her “Beth”) from Pittsburgh has filed a lawsuit in US federal district court alleging that her daughter was bullied so much at school that she developed anorexia, a dangerous eating disorder that can lead to death. The mother seeks to put blame for the bullying directly on the administrators at her daughter’s public school.
The bullying started when nine-year-old Beth was in her sixth grade swimming class. Three of her male classmates observed that her bathing suit had the letters BG on the lining and started ridiculing her about her weight. Although she was, at that time, of a weight that was proportional to her height, Beth took the bullying to heart and stopped eating. Over the next twelve months her weight plummeted to ninety-six pounds and she was forced to withdraw from school. In order to combat the anorexia that had developed as a result of the bullying, doctors were forced to hospitalize Beth. Beth’s mom recounts how Beth had difficulty walking and her body had trouble supporting itself.

Beth’s mother has sued Pittsburgh Public Schools, alleging that they violated the US Education Act’s Title IX with regard to gender equality. Beth’s mother claims that Beth was harassed because she was female; a male student in the same situation would not have suffered the same ridicule that Beth suffered. The lawsuit claims that the harassment was sexual in nature in that the bullying boys were implying that she was ugly and fat. The suit also alleges that the middle school and its principal created a hostile educational environment.

In response, the Pittsburgh Public School system claims that they have in place anti-bullying programs and harassment policies that are meant to address situations such as Beth’s and that, in her case, they were followed. Beth’s mom, however, claims that the middle school did not attempt to prevent the boys from bullying her daughter.

Prior to being bullied by her classmates, Beth was an “A” student at the middle school. Once the bullying began, it lasted through the end of her sixth grade year. She would often return home from school in tears. Given that her daughter had never encountered bullying issues before, Beth’s mom did not immediately recognize that her daughter was in danger, chalking her dramatic weight loss to typical teenage body issues.

The next school year, however, the problem worsened. Two additional male students joined the group that was bullying Beth, and no action was taken by school officials against the boys. The only people to come to Beth’s aid were other students who attempted to shame the boys into ending the bullying. It got to the point where Beth was not willing to eat in school for fear of being ridiculed about her weight while doing so.

While any female would likely respond negatively to snarky comments made about her weight, Beth’s bullies upped the ante when they began calling her ugly; the first incident occurred during a field trip at a bowling alley when the boys used the word “ugly” in place of her name on the score board. When Beth revealed the harassment to the school guidance counselor, the woman wrote off the behavior as normal for teen-aged boys. When Beth’s mother approached officials after the bowling alley incident, they admitted to being aware of the situation and, thereafter, suspended the boys for a day.

Due to the persistent bullying, Beth continued to lose weight and had to enroll at an outpatient treatment center for eating disorders. Unfortunately, Beth’s tormentors discovered that she was being treated for an eating disorder and added it to the list of things about which they bullied her. Thankfully, however, Beth’s school work benefited from the bullying – in an effort to block out the torture, she focused all of her attention on schoolwork and maintained near-perfect grades.

By winter of seventh grade, Beth had lost more than thirty-five pounds and was admitted to an inpatient eating disorder unit; she would complete seventh grade with the help of tutors arranged by her mother.

Although the lawsuit is premised on the belief that the bullying actually caused Beth’s anorexia, mental health professionals do not necessarily agree. Instead, it is believed that Beth was predisposed to the eating disorder and the bullying pushed her over the edge. Without this predisposition, however, professionals believe that Beth would not have developed anorexia from bullying.
Whether or not Beth was predisposed to anorexia prior to the bullying may be irrelevant for purposes of her mother’s lawsuit. Under the “egg shell skull” plaintiff theory in personal injury law, a defendant takes the plaintiff as he finds her and could be held liable even if a “normal” girl would not have developed anorexia from persistent bullying.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WellnessNews/story?id=8367578&page=1