By DONALD R. SERFASS

dserfass@tnonline.comIt's one of the worst epidemics facing our schools bullying.Most students say they've experienced bullying at some point while inside or around school, maybe before class, or after class or at recess or lunch, or in hallways.The website Stopbullying.gov defines bullying as "unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time."Or maybe it's simply being mean to someone who can't or won't defend himself.In a given year, nearly a third of all students aged 12 to 18 reported having been bullied, some almost daily, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.An amazing 90 percent of elementary students reported being bullied.But forget the statistics. We don't need them. We already know all about the problem.In 1992, bullying led to the hallway stabbing death of a freshman at Tamaqua Area High School.Despite zero-tolerance policies widely adopted since then, bullying hasn't disappeared.In 2014, a 13-year-old freshman at Panther Valley High School cut her wrist in a suicide attempt after repeated bullying.That same year, a 14-year-old Wind Gap Middle School student shot and killed herself in her bedroom after being victimized by relentless bullying in school and online.Last week, we learned of charges brought against three freshman football players at Marian High School.They're accused of bullying, or perhaps more accurately, assaulting, a teammate.The victim withdrew from school.These aren't hardened kids from the inner city.These are our children, products of our friendly, small, Norman Rockwell towns.If it can happen here, it can happen anywhere.And when it comes to bullying, identifying the problem provides no promise of resolution.There continues to be no easy answer. Bullying can even originate from school faculty and administration.More than 45 years ago, bullying in the public school system was so commonplace it was accepted as normal.In fact, verbal and physical bullying by teachers and students was taken for granted as part of the educational process, similar to college frat hazing.Back in the 1960s, folks weren't vigilant about blowing the whistle over the status quo.None of us dared report a bad teacher or a student bully. We weren't crybabies. Besides, bullying was supposed to toughen us. And so we didn't snitch. Instead, we put up with it. Some of us even became bullies ourselves.Through all of this, we were enablers, stupid and naive.Shame on us. Maybe our complacency is partly responsible for the present epidemic.The fatal Tamaqua stabbing 22 years ago proved that the halls of our local schools are still hostile and volatile.The charges brought in the Marian assault suggest that nothing has changed.Education takes a back seat when a student is afraid to enter school halls, or is frightened to take part in a class led by an abusive teacher.Bullying must be taken seriously and reported promptly.If you're a parent or student with knowledge of bullying, please do something about it.Don't be an enabler like we were in the 1960s and '70s.We failed.But today's society is more savvy and better equipped to deal with the issue.Still, if you feel your complaints aren't being taken seriously at the school level, go to local police.If police don't listen, go to other authorities, maybe a victims advocate council, a county sheriff, the American Civil Liberties Union, clergy, other parents.Don't be quiet about it. Tell as many others as you can.Bullying isn't a normal, healthy part of school culture. And if it is, it's a sign that our schools are failing in their most basic responsibility.In its most benign form, bullying causes immeasurable distress and undermines the educational process.At its most severe, it kills. And there are no excuses.When it reaches the point in which charges are filed with police, it's time to stand back and take a better look.Bullying isn't innocent horseplay.Nor is it good-old locker room fun.The time has come to declare war on bullying.It's a fight we can win because all of us are on the same team.