The Killers Who Live Long at Large in America's Schools

Kara hated school. She would make any excuse in order to stay home. She would dump chicken noodle soup all over her designer bedspread, and she would break countless thermometers placing them against her pink fluorescent lamp. Her mother asked her why she continued to fake these illnesses. She refused to answer and went reluctantly off to her middle school. The second she walked in the door, she was bombarded with ridicule and abuse. A tall girl, Katie pushed her to the ground and stole her backpack. Other kids egged it on.
For the first two periods, she sat in the bathroom sobbing. When break came around, she sat alone with no food.
Other kids claimed that she was too spoiled, stuck up, skinny, and a honkey. because both of her parents made six figure income, she ate wisely, and she was fair skinned with blond hair and blue eyes. Throughout the rest of the day she was bullied in the hallways and in classes. When she told the teachers they simply laughed and did not believe her. When she came home that day, her mother consoled her and asked her what had happened. This happened daily. She told her, and her mother immediately called the school outraged. The school calmly agreed to sign some paper work and report the issue and that was it. The bullying still continued, and Kara's mother was simply beside herself.
 When she went to pick Kara up from an orchestra rehearsal at her school, she took her and went into the principal's office. She was immediately sat down with the principal, a few of Kara's teachers, and the safety supervisor. When both Kara and her mother brought up the issue, the school officials said, "We cannot discuss this with you.", and pushed them out. Kara's mother demanded something be done. Security led them both out. They went home. Soon the bullying reached Kara's social networking accounts. She was receiving constant cyber-bullying.
Then one day her mom came home after grocery shopping. She had gotten Kara's favorite food in order to cheer her up. She called her name. No answer, then she shouted louder. Still no answer. Then she went up to her room. The door was locked. Kara's mother busted down the door to find her daughter hanging lifeless and blue on her ceiling fan with her old karate belt. Her mother screamed in horror and took her daughter down. She called an ambulance and
gave her CPR in the meantime. When the ambulance arrived it was too late, she was pronounced dead. Kara had been bullied to death.

This is what many children and parents across America deal with daily.

A bully is a person who regularly uses verbal abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse or all three in an attempt to intimidate another person or people and get something they want from them. Bullies often choose people who have something that they envy, or who are different in some way. Bullies also look for vulnerabilities, such as low self esteem, emotional sensitivity, a hard time standing up for his or herself or a physical disadvantage such as a disability or small stature, although at times bullies pick their targets entirely at random. Any type of person can be a bully, male or female, short or tall, black or white, it does not matter. Bullies sometimes prefer to bully in large groups who overpower one or two people. Bullies seek a difference in power from their victims, bullies like to feel in charge and in control. Often times when a victim finally stands up for themselves, or a friend does so, the bully will stop, because the victim is no longer less powerful than them.
Many once thriving children have their self-esteem stripped from them due to bullying from their peers who are insecure themselves. The school is the heart of bullying. A national survey showed that 30 percent of children grades 6 to 10 had bullied or had been bullied or had been bullied at some point in their lives. 13 percent reported bullying others, 11 percent reported being bullied, and 6 percent reported having both bullied someone and having been bullied.  An I-Safe survey conducted in the 2003-2004 school for children grades 4-8 year showed that bullying occurs more often with boys than with girls. The reason. Statistics on cyber bullying are higher. 42 percent of children reported having been bullied online. 35 report having been threatened. 1 in 5 report having it happen more than once. 21 percent of kids have received mean or hurtful messages, 53 percent admit having bullied someone online, and 58 percent admit not telling a parent or teacher about being bullied.



Why has bullying continued to go on at these alarming rates in the schools?


It's because most schools expressly refuse to put a stop to it and prevent future bullying. 35 states have some sort of law passed preventing bullying. 15 states allow and do not prohibit bullying. 11 states prohibit bullying based on sexual orientation and gender identity, 4 states prevent bullying based on sexual orientation, 4 required that bullying be addressed as well as prevented, and 16 states prohibit bullying but give no specific categories of protection. Others have considered legislation, but it has failed to go into effect.

                                                    Bullying By State
Red(15 states)- Bullying is not prohibited
Navy Blue(11 states)- Bullying is prohibited based on sexual orientation and gender identity
Yellow (16 states)- Bullying is prohibited but there are no guaranteed categories of protection
Aqua(4 states)- Requires that bullying is addressed and teachers and students follow an ethical code
Turquoise(4 states)- Bullying is prohibited based on sexual orientation


Many people, including many school officials commonly share an absurd misconception that bullying is just a normal and harmless part of childhood. Many consider it a "rite of passage" or just "boys being boys". Many parents will ignore it when a child comes to them for help for bullying. Even schools in the 35 states that have laws against bullying tend to ignore it all together, or lie about their actions to prevent bullying. Many parents and students who tell school officials are pushed off and nothing gets done. Some parents even go on famous talk shows to spread awareness and hosts and experts belittle their opinions. Many times schools do not want to get involved in a bullying situation, or do not want to get involved in a lawsuit. They are either too lazy to do so, or do not want to risk their image. Some schools are afraid to intervene, or even state their bullying policies to the victim or their parents because of confidentiality issues. Why should confidentiality override student safety? Why should pure laziness override saving a student's life?
In fact, bullying severely damages self esteem and causes depression and can ultimately lead to suicide. At times the bully can kill its victims by accident, some of which is seen when sororities and fraternities recruit college students when hazing goes too far. Some victims end up permanently disabled, and many who survive bullying have emotional scars that last a lifetime. Those who are bullying already have lowered self esteem.
A survey showed that 60 percent of people who bullied others while in school ended up with at least one violent criminal conviction, some go on to lead lives as adult bullies, and many end up bullying their children. This means that more than half do not grow out of the behavior, and that there are deeper problems besides simple immaturity.
Specific environments serve as breeding grounds for bullies. For instance, a child in a home filled with anger, violence and tension may feel that violence is the only way to get what they want. Bullies may have endured traumatic experiences in which they had no control, so they may seek that control from bullying. Bullies who have neglectful parents bully as a way of getting attention. Many of those who are bullied end up becoming bullies themselves and endangering lives as well.
Bullying is a cruel and unethical practice that schools cannot afford to keep ignoring. If it continues, teen suicide rates will continue to rise, school shootings will occur more often, and overall parents and students will not feel safe inside the walls of a school. Bullying is detrimental to the learning process. A child who is bullied often cannot focus on school work for fear of their next attack. A bully who never learns how to treat others properly will do poorly in school due to a poor attitude.  One of the primary goals of a school administration should be to make the students feel welcome and safe while they are learning there. If not students will not want to go back and may seek home schooling, or even drop out.

The primary purpose of school is to provide an education in which students can use to their advantage to pursue life long goals. School is a place for learning and friendship and is not a place for cruelty and intimidation.

Shouldn't Schools be beyond this?