| The other day I called my youngest sister, Cassidy. | | | | "Now this is just pathetic; you're crying!" I was in shock! |
| She is in 5th grade and easily the lowest maintenance, | | | | Why are girls are so mean? These girls are not the |
| most kind-hearted, 10-year-old girl I know. It broke my | | | | typical age stereotyped by the movie "Mean Girls," but |
| heart when she answered the phone without her | | | | without doubt, these 5th grade girls have an edge to |
| normal chipper greeting. She told me it had been a | | | | them that is calculating and spiteful. According to Krista |
| hard day. When I asked her why, she told me a story | | | | Kent, a middle school counselor in Salt Lake City, Utah, |
| about these girls in her class that have been teasing | | | | young girls are meaner now than they have ever |
| her since the beginning of the year. That particular day | | | | been and there are two main reasons for the bullying |
| was worse than ever because after they mocked | | | | that exists among females. The first reason is for |
| her, Cassidy laid her head on her school desk and | | | | status building or popularity and the second is for |
| quietly sniffled to herself. The girls saw this, and instead | | | | defending one's territory. |
| of feeling guilty, they followed her and announced, | | | | |