There has been a great deal written and said lately about bullying among children and teens. Some claim there’s an epidemic of bullying.

As it turns out, there is no evidence of any increase in bullying. If anything there seems to be a slight decrease over the past few years. Still, it remains a problem at least among a small percentage of kids.

But you don’t have to be young to be a bully. Adults can be culprits as well.

Take the recent case of University of California, Davis police dowsing students with pepper spray even though the students were sitting down in a peaceful protest as part of the “Occupy” movement.  The students — some of whom were teenagers — were in no way threatening the armed police. They weren’t even resisting arrest. But, as the video below shows, they were brutally attacked in what could be called police brutality but could also be called bullying.

And, then there’s the treatment that First Lady Micehlle Obama and Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden recieved when they appeard as grand marshalls at a Nascar race in Miami on Sunday and were booed by several members of the crowd.  I understand that not everyone supports the Obama administration, but booing the wives of the President and Vice President is not just rude, it’s mean and it sends the wrong message to our children.

If we are to expect our children to be upstanding citizens, we have to do more than just preach to them. We have to be good role models as well.  And that includes politicians who are running for office. It’s fine to challenge your opponents ideas,  policies and credentials for office, but not acceptable to demean, ridicule or lie about them for political gain.