A dish best served cold
It probably makes sense that the broadcast media were able to find South Hadley High School parents who thought criminal charges were "too hard" for the nine students charged with bullying Phoebe Prince to death. Move along if you're looking for sympathy at this address.
I wrote this after the Virginia Tech killings in 2007, in frustration over the failure to address bullying's role in reactive violence by its victims:
“Bullied” has become a weasel word, thanks to the punditry, so I will not say I was bullied in seventh grade. I was pushed up against a brick wall and beaten three to five times a week for most of the school year, by a group of five boys. That was in addition to the much more usual tripping in the halls or on the stairs, the threatening phone calls (no Internet then), and ridicule in class or, worse, in gym. Neither my parents, nor teachers, nor administrators of the school did anything. They knew and ignored it. Before I was 13, I learnt that in such situations, I was on my own. Authority was of no use to me, and would (as once happened) even punish me if I fought back.
I am totally biased on this subject and I don't think any criminal charges can be hard enough. It's interesting how it has been the taking of two lives, by suicide, that finally pushed this Commonwealth into action. (Consider what the response would have been if Phoebe had solved her problems by blowing her tormentors away.)
A good many cynics don't think legislation will solve the problem. They trot out that stale old phrase, "we've always done it this way." In the first place, no we haven't: not at the extreme levels that lead to violent reactions. Want to know what the legislation will do? It will force school administrators, teachers, and parents to grow a spine. These people can, and should, contain this sort of harassment before it turns toxic. I've heard their excuses for half a century and I'm tired of them. If it takes statutes to smarten them up, so be it.
It sounds as if the DA is prepared to hit this case hard. Good. I hope a successful prosecution will not only put these goons away, and not just fire a warning shot across the bows of anyone who thinks this sort of thing is cool. I hope it causes every school bully, whatever age they now are, to feel a bit of a cold sweat, as every bullying victim now alive cheers on the prosecution by way of vicarious revenge.
I wrote this after the Virginia Tech killings in 2007, in frustration over the failure to address bullying's role in reactive violence by its victims:
“Bullied” has become a weasel word, thanks to the punditry, so I will not say I was bullied in seventh grade. I was pushed up against a brick wall and beaten three to five times a week for most of the school year, by a group of five boys. That was in addition to the much more usual tripping in the halls or on the stairs, the threatening phone calls (no Internet then), and ridicule in class or, worse, in gym. Neither my parents, nor teachers, nor administrators of the school did anything. They knew and ignored it. Before I was 13, I learnt that in such situations, I was on my own. Authority was of no use to me, and would (as once happened) even punish me if I fought back.
I am totally biased on this subject and I don't think any criminal charges can be hard enough. It's interesting how it has been the taking of two lives, by suicide, that finally pushed this Commonwealth into action. (Consider what the response would have been if Phoebe had solved her problems by blowing her tormentors away.)
A good many cynics don't think legislation will solve the problem. They trot out that stale old phrase, "we've always done it this way." In the first place, no we haven't: not at the extreme levels that lead to violent reactions. Want to know what the legislation will do? It will force school administrators, teachers, and parents to grow a spine. These people can, and should, contain this sort of harassment before it turns toxic. I've heard their excuses for half a century and I'm tired of them. If it takes statutes to smarten them up, so be it.
It sounds as if the DA is prepared to hit this case hard. Good. I hope a successful prosecution will not only put these goons away, and not just fire a warning shot across the bows of anyone who thinks this sort of thing is cool. I hope it causes every school bully, whatever age they now are, to feel a bit of a cold sweat, as every bullying victim now alive cheers on the prosecution by way of vicarious revenge.
Labels: school bullying
posted by Uncle | 23:35
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home