"A 2010 redbox survey shows Americans' favorite holiday movies include 'A Christmas Story,' 'Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer' and 'The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.' 'A Christmas Carol' in its multiple incarnations is another. Then there's the holiday TV special anticipated by millions every year, 'A Charlie Brown Christmas.' "

"If one stops to think what they all have in common -other than the jolly old elf and Christmas trees - one might come to an unexpected conclusion: Bullies."

"On their daily trek to school, Ralphie, Randy and their pals are at the mercy of yellow-eyed Scut Farkus and "his little toady," Grover Dill. Rudolph is excluded and laughed at for his differently colored nose. The Grinch, especially as we get to know him in the Jim Carrey version of the film, was bullied into hermitism and harbors decades of hate in his heart for the Whos. Ebenezer Scrooge was abandoned by his father at boarding school and grew to be a cold-hearted, stingy and spiteful old man.
And poor Charlie Brown. His schoolmate Lucy Van Pelt is a bully extraordinaire. Even Charlie Brown's own dog often belts out a hearty laugh at his owner's expense."

“Some might say, "Hey, these are classics! And a little friction is necessary to keep a plot interesting, after all." But Judith Barr, a practicing psychotherapist and author of "Power Abused, Power Healed," says these stories and their popularity are an indication of the normalization of bullying in America.
"Bullying is everywhere. It's in our schools; it's in our churches; it's in our businesses; it's in our government; it's all over," she said in a phone interview from Connecticut.

"The first step to combating it is recognizing it.

When watching these television specials, point out the bullying behavior, rather than laughing at it or glossing over it, she suggested."

"'Even the act of watching holiday specials and talking about it is part of healing the bullying,' she said."

"Ask your kids how they would feel if they were Charlie Brown or Rudolph. Make they know their feelings are OK and it is always safe to share their feelings with you."

– Betsy Bethel

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Reprinted with permission from OV Parent.com