Bullying at schools

We all feel terrible when reading about young people killing innocent bystanders. I don't just talk about the latest Arizona killings but also about all the school killings not so long ago: The Columbine High school massacre where two students killed 12 students and one teacher. The Virginia Tech massacre, where a student killed 32 people. The Red Lake massacre, where 9 people died at the hand of a 16 yr old boy. Lindhurst High School - 4 deaths, Heath High School, 3 deaths. This is only a couple out of about 44 insidents. And all the killers have one common factor: they were victims of school bullies.

They were bullied and rejected and ridiculed because of reasons beyond their control. Some because of their ethical background, other because they were fat, others because they were shy or small or poor or physically disabled.

So, one can reason that if they weren't bullied they wouldn't have killed out of revenge. I know bullying is not a reason to go on a killing spree, but they were all CHILDREN, they reasoned like children. And that's one thing school authorities and parents tend to forget. Most of these killer children only thought of "paying back" when they started killing. They only thought of all the hurt and humiliation they had undergone in the a school where they were supposed to be save but was let down by the authorities.

Parents should talk to their children, try to find out of bullying is taking place at their school. Even if it is not your own child, when you hear about a case, make alarm. Get involved! Remember, if you don't then next time one of the bully victims might shoot YOUR child. Meet with the school board, ask them to post teachers as watch dogs on the playground. And if the head master is unwilling to admit having a problem, organize a guard squad between the parents who are willing to help. Two or three members should then go to the playground before school, during play breaks and after school to be on the lookout for any sign of bullying. Encourage the children to tell you the truth if it happens, say in the classroom and not on the school ground. If it occurs you should make sure that the head master is acting accordingly against the culprits. And don't just give up. There is always courts where you can go to if nothing else helps.

That is really the only way we are going to get rid of bullying, don't give the bullies a chance to torture the innocent.

Times have changed, children have no respect for their parents or other authorities any more. So tactics to avoid these kinds of tragics should also be different. Most schools prefer to turn a blind eye to bullying on the school grounds. And that's a recipe for disasters like the above mentioned cases.

Don't let it happen at your child's school!