Bullycide Articles

Bullycide and School Shootings - How did bullying escalate to this?

By Mandy-Jane Clarke

It all began at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999.  Two boys planned and executed an act so insidious, so malicious, and so deadly that no one could have possibly been prepared for what was to happen.  With guns in hand and bombs placed in exact locations to cause as many deaths as possible, bullycide and school shootings became the focus of the nation’s attention that day.

The reasoning behind this dreadful act was eventually determined.  These two boys were victims of bullies and they both felt isolated and alone.  Unable to cope, they suffered from depression and anger.  It was the anger that led them to this plan, and eventually they carried out this senseless act.  Finally, after all the carnage and killing of twelve innocent lives, they committed suicide.

Reeling from the shock of it all, parents, teachers, and the nation tried to make sense of it.  Unfortunately, no one had recognized the signs.  Bullying is a pandemic in schools yet is not taken seriously.  While this may be shocking, it’s nonetheless true.  Moreover, very few schools have any procedures in place to deal with this type of violence.  Some even suggested the Columbine High School shootings were an isolated incident.

It wasn’t until recently that bullying took on an entirely new meaning and focus.  The Virginia Tech shooting was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.  Here, there was clear and precise indications that something was wrong.  The boy who committed these acts of violence was himself bullied in school.  He was a loner.  All he could think about was revenge on those who hurt him.  He wrote a manifesto and carried out his plan.   Coincidentally, on April 16, 2007, eight years to the month the tragedy occurred at Columbine High School, 32 students were killed at Virginia Tech.  This troubled youth, Seung-Hui Cho, took his life.  Thus, the cycle of bullying and school shootings continues.

Today, we are witnessing random acts of violence since the Columbine and Virginia Tech tragedies.  Who awoke the sleeping giant?  How did bullying escalate to this?  All the signs were there.  Parents and educators who chose not to see it or intervene contributed to it. 

If you look at the teen bullying memorial pages from Virginia Tech, you have to wonder if this act could have been avoided.  Certainly, this boy’s parents must have sensed something was wrong.  The students who were interviewed gave credence to the fact that this boy was a loner, that no one really knew him, that he virtually had no friends.  Except for his roommates who, upon reflection, offered information that was a clear indication something was wrong – no school official could have said the same.

Bullying isolates a child.  It casts him into a world where fear and mistrust guides his every move.  His eyes may reveal nothing, and more likely he will write down his feelings in great detail, such as the Seung-Hui Cho did.  His hatred for those who hurt him in his earlier school years advanced to the ultimate act of revenge.  His depression gave way to definitive action against those he considered his enemy.

One wonders what would have happened if he had received the proper help years earlier.  What would have happened if his parents had taken him to a counselor?  What if school officials had intervened the first time he was bullied by his peers?  What if…..
Perhaps this quote says it all: “There is no better way to dismantle a personality than to isolate it.”  The boys involved in the bullycide and school shootings were completely isolated and because bullying had not been dealt with from the start, the only peace they felt they could find was in committing the ultimate act of violence.

This does not make these violent and cruel actions acceptable – Far from it!

For someone to plan and carryout such a massacre is an unnecessary and horrifying tragedy – it’s appalling! To take the lives of others leaving families and friends to suffer and endure the loss of their loved ones… there are no words for it – it’s heart breaking.

Going to prove that bullying, and even rumors of bullycide and school shootings, must be taken extremely seriously, never underestimated and treated as “urgent” - not to be placed on the “to do” list to be dealt with later to help prevent lives from being lost like this again.

This article is courtesy of http://www.Stop-Bullies.com Stop-Bullies.com is a resource site covering specific areas of Bullying including Bullycide .