More than 70 percent of educators from McHenry County school districts say they respond to a bullying-related disciplinary problem at least twice a month. Almost 40 percent say they deal with bullying issues on a weekly basis. And more than 60 percent think that bullying is a bigger problem today than five years ago.

That’s according to 50 local principals, teachers and other school officials who responded to a survey conducted by the McHenry County Regional Office of Education and the Northwest Herald for a special investigative report that begins Wednesday.

“Confronting the Bully” is a four-day Northwest Herald series that will explore bullying in McHenry County and what we can do to stop it, or at least reduce it.