One HUGE part of this, that no one really wants to talk about, is the bullying at the administrative level in schools. Starting with the principal, the vice p., the teachers. After that, it's kids learning from their models, both conscious and subconscious... as a way to get by in the world. When I was a student teacher, and they decided I had to go, they --literally--cornered me in the principal's office, handed me kleenex, told me to go home and think about the "rest of my life." I was 44 at the time. I drove home, blinded by tears, and wondering how kids ever get through. And so many don't. I could go on, but I'll stop... It really is a terrible system, and very destructive.