On bullying

I was lazing around today, surfing the web and checking out the news when I came across a piece on the Phoebe Prince story. For those who don't know, she was a 15 year old girl who committed suicide after being intensely bullied by six of her peers at school. This brought up a huge wave of emotion in me. I was bullied throughout all of my school years, most intensely in grade school and junior high. I had the unfortunate circumstance of having a birthmark on my nose. I've since had it removed as an adult but it was the source of lots of grief. There were many days when I felt cursed. The name calling, people going out of their way to chase you down and taunt you. It was almost too much. I hated school. Dreaded it. So, when I hear of instances of bullying, I have no sympathy for those who are the aggressors. What kind of horrible person is so vile and hateful? Who on earth raised them? Bullying is not very different from stalking, which by the way, is illegal. I'm glad that many states have laws on the books that prevent bullying. However, there are no shortage of tales of schools who are reluctant to do anything real to prevent bullying. Schools can host seminar after seminar but until they get really tough, it will do no good. I had teachers witness instances of bullying and not step in. My dear friends' daughter was bullied and school officials simply shrugged it off. Here's the bottom line, if your child is a menacing little heathen, they should be expelled. It should be up to you, the parent, to either pay the fee for a private school or homeschool. No one should be subject to the little monster you've produced. If that sounds harsh, well, so be it. I'm sick of perpetrators having more rights than victims. No adult would tolerate such treatment in a work or personal environment without demanding action be taken to prevent it. If you harass someone at work, you're fired. If you harass someone in your neighborhood, the police will be knocking at your door. Why should our schools be any different? Our children deserve to be treated with the same basic dignity that we expect. So, to Prince's tormentors, I have to say, you should be horribly ashamed Sadly, you likely are not because the same wretched parts of your souls that allowed you to bully likely prevent you from feeling remorse. Rest assured that the higher power in the universe will be wanting answers for your behavior when you stand in front of him.