Bully bashing

By Katie Williams
Collegian Editor
October 11, 2006

In 2004, a fifth grader in Gwinnett County, Ga., was suspended from school for violating its zero-tolerance policy. The 10-year-old got bored during recess, pointed his index finger towards the ceiling and said, “bang, bang.” Also in 2004, a 12-year-old was suspended from a different school. What was this deviant’s crime? He brought a pair of scissors to his school’s sewing class, since the scissors they provided hurt his fingers. If these stories don’t disturb you, consider the third grader in Alabama who was suspended for bringing a GI Joe toy gun to school. The size of the gun? Half an inch.

School violence is a real issue in today’s world, and the number of school shootings in the past month definitely proves this. However, school administration and parents are not taking real steps to solve the problem. Instead of trying to come up with real solutions for this issue, they are content with outrageous zero tolerance policies and making scapegoats of video games and rock music.

Unfortunately, I have personal experience with what I believe is one of the root causes of school violence. When I was in grade school I was the typical nerd, the butt of every joke, the girl kids went out of their way to verbally and physically hurt. My torments happened on a daily basis. There was no solace for me. And while I never brought a gun to school, I can certainly understand the mentality of those who have. Day after day of no justice and constant emotional stress can bring anyone to the breaking point.

I’m not saying that all school violence stems from bullying, but some of it does. And it would be a lot more productive for school boards and the government to work on stopping bullies than arresting third graders with plastic guns.

I know someone who, in high school, was the favorite target of the popular crowd. Every day one of his classmates would walk up to him, slam down his binder, spill all his books and papers on to the floor and then kick him while he was down picking them up. This went on for months. It is no wonder then that finally the boy got fed up and stuck thumbtacks in the top of his binder, so that when his bully went to knock them out of his hands he instead got a palm full of tacks. Whether you agree or disagree with the boy’s actions, the point is this: he wouldn’t have put the thumbtacks there in the first place if he hadn’t had to endure months of emotional and physical abuse.

I am certainly not suggesting that the victims of school violence deserve it. No one deserves to suffer any kind of violence. People do stupid things when they’re young without realizing the consequences of their words or actions. All of us have, at one time or another, hurt someone else’s feelings in the desperate attempt to fit in with those we consider “cool.” Everyone deserves to feel safe at their school or work, nerd, bully, or otherwise.

My point is that something needs to be done to end bullying in our schools. Zero tolerance policies don’t always work, and they certainly don’t stop the root cause of school violence. Violence isn’t caused by a student walking into a school with a gun. That is a result of something else. Something had to push them to want to hurt others in the first place, and this is what schools should be working on stopping.

williamsk1@lasalle.edu