Bullying --> Death?

So, I'm sitting here watching AC360 (I'm a HUGE Anderson fan! Makes me feel alright about my greying condition, lol). But this topic of discussion right now is something that crushes my heart - children who are so cruelly bullied that they commit suicide.

I mean, it's come a long way since when I was a kid. Back then, bullying consisted of purposeful exclusion, maybe a little name calling, perhaps a mean prank phone call or something, but that was about it. I guess I was born at a unique time in the technological advancement where I saw the transition into the more rapid and easier forms of communication (i.e. texting, IMing, emailing, etc.). Even when the internet was just beginning to come into the home and AOL was the only real option of instant messaging, I recall people extending bullying or just meanness via internet. What once was restricted to school or to the playground, was now able to attack you in "safe places."

I liken it to the "Smoke Monster" on LOST (clearly, I'm also a huge fan of this). Originally, it was restricted by the pillars that kept it caged-in and unable to do harm outside of a defined area. Then, the pillars were turned off and it was allowed free-range to harm everyone on the island. Nowadays, nearly every student has a cell phone (or a side-kick, smh) and some type of IM account. Add in Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace (do people still use that?) and the opportunity for harassment is endless. Can you recall the awkwardness of middle school and high school? Granted, I think I had it alright...went to the same small school for a decade, fit in well and had a pretty good role among my friends and classmates. But even still, we all struggled gaining acceptance from our peers. And we all got teased at some point about something by someone...and we remember how much that hurt. If you make it through, which a few years ago I'd bet nearly everyone would because the bullying was never really that bad, surviving the bullying really made you a stronger, better, more compassionate person for it (or a bigger, badder person...depends on how you took it). Now, kids aren't making it through because it literally has the possibility of never ending.

No one likes torture (well, there are a select few that enjoy it, but we're not talking about them) and most people don't like going thru things alone. Where are the teachers and administrators? Apparently alongside the bullies, they too are having charges pressed against them. I say GOOD! They are grown. They went through all this themselves a few decades ago and they should intercede after a certain point. In addition, I've always been an advocate for addressing those that stand on the side and either laugh along or know better and do nothing. Not that they need to be punished, but clearly interventions are needed. AC360 has not one, but two different stories on tonight. I won't say that evil is prevailing, but it's doing alright at surviving and slowly spreading into deeper levels, and starting to affect younger and younger people.

.:All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing:. ...Edmund Burke...

As it stands, I do not want kids. lol. While I know my kids will be well-behaved, there's a sea of children out there with no guidance at home, no morals, no role models, and teachers that are afraid of the kids. I substitute teach at a Charter School - I see this daily and it truly saddens me. It hurts my heart to see our youth, our supposed future, not valuing life - not theirs and not their peers. As a result, they do senseless things without thinking of the consequences. They don't care if they hurt someone else, they don't see the value of helping others and have a very self-centered view of life. Even the threat of prison doesn't scare some of them. Shoot, even one of my kids at schools said he wants to go to prison when he grows up! Granted, he had some things confused and meant to say that if he keeps doing the things he does he knows that's where he'll be, but even still, he was alright with that possible reality. If these kids represent our future, what do you think this says about the face of the planet in 15-30 years?

I've said it hundreds of times, but I really do believe that the end of the world will come in our lifetime.