The Trees

With so much bullying in the media, children are now trying to kill themselves or actually committing suicide due to the severe nature of bullying in our schools and neighborhoods.  It's time to make a stand and expose the ones doing the bullying.

My heart goes out to a family in River Trails:

I've known this family for many years now.  Nice, wonderful family trying to do what everyone else does, raise there kids in a safe environment. 

I've thought about this for weeks now.  I've got to expose a bully right in your neighborhood.  This young man has victimized this family and their child for over two years now.  He's been know for cyber bullying, assault and even vandalism to this family's home. This kid vandalized this family's home during Spring Break.  He has got to be exposed and stopped NOW!  Fathers/Mothers, don't let your daughters date this creep, and don't let your sons hang out with this child.  He's nothing but trouble...in fact, a lot of you may know exactly who I'm talking about.  His name is Adam Reece and he's in High School in your area.  This is bullying has GOT TO STOP!!!

So, how many police reports have been filed?  What has L. D. Bell done to control this problem? 

How would you like to be liable for all that now happens to this kid with what you put here?  Yes, bullying has to be stopped but this is not the way to do it.

Much of the media is sensationalized, even though the tragedies are very real.  Recent news reports are certainly not the first time kids have committed suicide due to bullying.  I myself, who was in school in the late 70s through the 80s (even though it was a different time), was frequently beat-up, bullied and relentlessly harassed & teased (publicly) by kids at school all the way into my senior year in high school.  My crime:  being a smart & overweight kid & occasionally expressing my interest in a girl who was either popular or well known.  That was the only criteria to be a member of the bullied.  I even contemplated suicide during those years.

The thing that sucks the most is teachers & school administrators either did absolutely nothing (ignored the problem), or made token attempts such as giving a bully 1 day after-school detention, etc.  That frequently made things worse when they sought their revenge on me for saying something or reaching out for help.  I didn't want revenge, I just wanted to be left alone.  My mother's home was on the way home from the bus stop and got egged, rocks thrown at it several times (breaking the windows), and other vandalism.

What's in the media is not new, teenage suicide or psychological problems is par for the course of teenagers, especially victims of bullying, however the media makes it sound like something new by sensationalizing it and hyping it as an epidemic.  This sort of crap happens at every school, much more in the higher-crime schools where weapons are used and kids go to jail for using them.

My vindication now:  I live many states away, most of those I've checked up on from high school newsletters were in dead-end jobs making not much more than minimum wage, even to this day, and never moved from the small town they were in.  I have a much better job and in many cases much better life than they do.

dfwjim - i have to say you are absolutely correct in all of what you wrote. I myself was not bullied in school but my oldest son has been bullied at LDBell.  You go to the administration and they act like it's just another situation.  They seem careless of your problems because they have so many kids to deal with.  Your simply just the next "problem" in a case load of situations.  It is so much worse now because there are so many ways to connect, via text, myspace, facebook etc. and some kids don't know how to deal with severe bullying.  If they don't have a support system at home, it will be suicide attempts or in many cases, actual suicide.

Another way of severe bullying is when you have a boy in high school, the girls are the bullies.  Now with all the sexual harassment laws, these girls have the upper hand, and they know it!!!!.  If they don't like a particular boy, they will gang up to report a boy and even get the their parents involved to make up the report.  They write up false accusations on these boys to get them suspended and sent to AEP.  It happens all the time and not just at LD Bell.  This is a huge problem but what can you do when your son comes home and says they did not say these things, perhaps your child just made a stupid non sexual remark.  The girls are getting revenge by making false reports.  Kids are mean and it's a sad world we live in.

Fortunately, blogs are the way to get information out to the public and bullies need to be stopped.  My advice, contact schools, contact the parents of the bullies if you can, make police reports for vandalism and do as much as possible.  Be heard and we certainly do need to make a stand to let bullies know that we are tougher than they are!!  You certainly need to make police reports and contact the schools to report bullying every single time.

dfwjim, i'm glad you have a much better life now.  We just have to teach our children the bullies are the kids that hurt and they want you to hurt too.  Victims of bullies will get through it with support from church, friends and family.  Kids need a big support system now and it's up to you as the parents to support your child in tough times.

Blessings to All ~