When Wisconsin [1] news anchor Jennifer Livingston was called fat by a viewer, she got a firsthand taste of the kind of bullying many high school [2] students confront on a daily basis, U.S. News reports. More than 20 percent of teens report being the target of name calling, 18 percent say they were the subject of rumors, and 17 percent reported either physical harassment–shoving, tripping, or being spit on–or the threat of violent actions, according to a 2011 report [3] by the U.S. Department of Education. This behavior is often learned by example, Livingston said during an on-air response [4] to her bully, noting that October is National Bullying Prevention Month. And more often than not, parents are the ones setting that example, experts say.
“If you are at home and you’re talking about the fat news anchor, guess what, your children are probably going to go to school and call someone fat,” Livingston said…