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Should the bullying of one boy be a national discussion?

Torrence Collier, 11, said he feels horrible about himself when he hears racist comments directed toward him at his school in Westport.

The Newfoundland town of Westport has been in the public eye for all the wrong reasons this week, after an 11-year-old child and his parents claimed he was the target of racism and bullying so extreme that he was pulled out of school for the rest of the year.

The plight of Torrence Collier has made national headlines, with his parents demanding action from the school board and rallying public support through the media.

According to CBC News, two children have been suspended and local police have launched an investigation into the case of bullying. Clearly, such steps aren’t taken unless there is reason to believe this was a case far worse than standard schoolyard name-calling.

But with the issue of childhood and teenage bullying sitting so prominently on the public’s consciousness these days, it doesn’t take much to make the public take notice.

[ Related: Torrence Collier, 11, says he faces racism, extreme bullying in Westport ]

The response from Canada has been overwhelming. Strangers on Facebook launched a campaign to have children across Canada write Torrence supportive notes.

Canadian comedian Shaun Majumder rallied behind Torrence. "You are a great kid. You are a cool kid. You have a million talents and can do anything in the world you ever dream of. I mean that. ANYTHING," he wrote in a public Facebook statement.

Post by Shaun Majumder.

Canada has spoken. It may not solve Torrence's problem, but the support should be worth something.

But in the rush to support a victim of bullying, has society become a bully itself? Facebook pages are filled with antagonistic messages about the town and its residents. And the parents of the student’s classmates say his own indiscretions are being ignored. At least one mother has vocally complained that the boy frequently bullies her daughters.

Racism is bad, bullying is bad. And what Torrence Collier has gone through is a terrible thing – something no child should experience. But the problem is that so many children do.

The U.S.-based National Center for Education Statistics says one-third of all students between the ages of 12 and 18 have been bullied at school. Prevnet, a Canadian bullying prevention agency, says 18 per cent of boys and 15 per cent of girls have reported being bullied at least twice in recent months.

Some studies put the number of bullied children as high as 90 per cent among elementary school kids.

Canada’s recent and troubling spate of high-profile bullying cases, many involving cyber bulling and suicide, have brought the issue to the top of public consciousness. It has led to new anti-bullying initiatives, and new laws.

Yet bullying perseveres and, according to some experts, massive amounts of attention paid to individual bullying cases may not be beneficial.

Izzy Kalman, a child psychologist and author of Psychology Today's "Resilience to Bullying" blog, has written extensively about the downside that comes with the way we handle childhood bullying. In a paper titled "Why Psychology is Failing to Solve the Problem of Bullying," he suggests our rush to demonize the "bully" is stunting the victim's development.

"Whereas previously a child might have brushed off verbal attacks with, 'That’s no big deal. I can handle it. It’s only words',' an anti-bullying indoctrinated child is far more likely to think, 'Oh, no! I am being bullied! That is terrible! Words kill!'" Kalman writes.

"By getting upset, the child is reinforcing the bullying behavior. Also, the greater the victim’s fear, the more the bully will attack. So by encouraging children to think of words as terribly dangerous, we are unwittingly increasing the frequency and intensity of bullying incidents."

Kalman does not directly address the effects of mass public attention on bullying, but notes that attempts to address the issue with school administrators rarely succeeds, and that attempting to declare the guilt of the bully can be counter-productive.

The issue of a school yard tiff can elevate into a feud between families and could, as in the case of Westport, N.L., divide a town.

Kalman suggests we stop using the word "bully," which suggests guilt or evil, and instead focus on helping children handle the conflict without acting like a victim.

The idea of "hands off" parenting has been gaining traction recently. A New Zealand school completed a study earlier this year, in which all playground rules were removed and children were left to their own devices.

The result, according to administrators, was a marked decrease in everything from serious injuries and vandalism to acts of bullying.

"We want kids to be safe and to look after them, but we end up wrapping them in cotton wool when in fact they should be able to fall over," Principal Bruce McLachlan told One News.

There is not a single person who would say what Torrence Collier has experienced, and is experiencing, is right. The notion that words and actions can’t leave a lasting effect on children is antiquated. We live in a society where children can’t escape from bullying by leaving the schoolyard. But in our rush to protect children from one another, we’re creating a climate where every act of bullying can be countered with cross-country outrage.

It may help advance the public’s concern about schoolyard bullying, but is it likely to help the child at the centre of the debate? Probably not, and isn’t that the point?