Over the years I've seen parents unwittingly cultivate fragility by misusing the term bullying. I knew a student who had her own circle of friends but wanted to join a more popular group. The girls in the desired group were close-knit, with families that had been friends for decades. They weren't mean to this girl. In fact they were polite, even friendly. If she sat by them at lunch, they would engage and include her. They talked with her at school. If she invited one of them to a movie, they would go and have fun. But they didn't include her in their inner circle. Every time they did something on the evenings or weekends without inviting her, the girl's parent accused them of bullying.