Tami, I'm sorry your niece is going through this. I'm glad she has the support of an aunt like you. As a fat, pimply, bookworm with few social skills, I endured bullying. My son, who was more interested in the arts than all the seasonal youth sports his classmates participated in, was bullied, too. He told me about it. His attitude was that he could handle it better than some others that he knew, and he knew he had my love and support. I told nobody about my experiences. Both my parents had been popular kids and I feared they would think I had somehow brought it upon myself. (I was probably wrong about that.) I didn't want to be a disappointment to them. Even though I never told them, I knew they loved me. If, like my son and I, your niece will eventually (though not soon enough) go to a school that merges with another, she is likely to meet members of her own "tribe," who are also unique.

The cyber-bullying era certainly adds a new, nasty layer to all of this.