Recently, the topic of bullying among preteens and teens has gained national recognition. Devastating stories of student suicides due to bullying have brought the issue to the attention of Americans. Numerous television news channels aired specials on the issue, including in-depth coverage by Anderson Cooper on his CNN program. President Barack Obama addressed the topic of bullying, most notably when he held a White House conference in March 2010. An Associated Press statement on that conference quoted the president as noting that we must “dispel the myth that Bullying is just a harmless rite of passage or an inevitable part of growing up. It's not” (“Obama: Bullying”). Clearly, Americans are paying attention to this terrible situation and want to work to reduce, if not end, bullying. A step forward in achieving this goal is to understand why this phenomenon occurs. There are many reasons, of course, but a few stand out as the most important. There are some correctable causes of the increase in bullying among high school students. The first remediable reason why bullying occurs is awareness. As stated earlier, national awareness has definitely increased regarding this issue due to high profile cases where students end up fatally harming themselves after becoming victims. However, it is wrong to always wait until the situation reaches that dire point to start addressing the problem. We should identify the problem when it starts and when it manifests itself instead of waiting until it has gone too far. Many cases of bullying go unnoticed. Students and teachers are often very busy dealing with a variety of tasks and responsibilities. It's easy for people to dive into... middle of paper... those high profile cases get recognition, there are thousands of students who face bullying in their daily lives. You need to reach out to them and be available for help. At the same time, contact with bullies is not something that is always considered, but should be available as well. The issue must be addressed from multiple points of view. Through awareness and hard work, we can all work together to stop the pain associated with this harmful activity. Works Cited “Obama: Bullying Shouldn't Be Inevitable, Accepted.” MSNBC.com. MSNBC.com. October 3, 2011. Web. November 9, 2011. Magid, Larry. “Online bullying: still much less common than in real life.” CNET. CBS Interactive. November 9, 2011. Web. November 9, 2011. Mishna, Faye, et al. “Teachers' understanding of bullying.” Canadian Journal of Education. 28.4 (2005): 718-38. JSTOR. Network. November 8. 2011.