I hate to say I saw this coming, but I did. A 10-year-old boy has been arrested for bringing a BB gun to elementary school. But this is not some hardened criminal, folks. This is a little boy who wears ankle braces and has been a victim of bullying because he's "different" from his peers.
It doesn't make up for what the child, who hails from the Cincinnati area of Ohio, did. But it certainly explains it, doesn't it? When kids feel the best recourse they have for being bullied is to fight fire with fire, we have scared little kids bringing guns to school.
Ever since my kid started mixing with kids I didn't pick for her (as in, went beyond the mom-planned playdate), we've had to deal with bullies. Whether it's a mean girl picking on her or another mom lamenting her child's battle with some butthead on the playground, I've heard enough stories to fit in a novella at least. And yes, my daughter is only 6.
Along with the tales of what exactly the bullies are doing are the parents -- me included -- wringing their hands over what to do to fight it. And a fair amount have settled for the old-fashioned "hit 'em back." I can't blame them, exactly. In my daughter's school, they've got all sorts of programs meant to fight bullying, and it's still going on. The gentle approach isn't working.
But what are we teaching our kids when we actually suggest they sink to the level of the little scumbuckets who are making their lives a living hell? For every story of a bully who learned his lesson "but good," there is a kid like this 10-year-old in Ohio, who brought his BB gun to school not to shoot anyone but merely to "intimidate" the kids who have intimidated him for so long. He admitted to cops that his uncle broke off the orange tip of the gun meant to signal how harmless it was, to make it easier to scare the other kids.
He has been a victim for so long that it would be easy to give him a pass. As a mom of a kid who has been bullied, my heart breaks for him. But the fact is, what he did was seriously wrong, and the victim mentality doesn't really make up for it. He has become the aggressor. He has become his own worst nightmare. And now he's headed to juvenile court to boot.
This is what happens when we go for the obvious answer to bullying. We make our kids into bullies themselves.
What do you think should happen to this little boy for what he did?
Image via zappledot/Flickr
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Comments 22
I'm guessing that most - if not all - schools in the US have anti-bullying policies in place. However, they DO NOT WORK!
We had a bullying problem when my son was in elementary school. Three boys were bulling my son and the "dean" was useless. I was at the school all the time but the parents of the bullies? Not so much. The bullies would receive in school detention - in school suspension and then real suspensio where they had to stay home. After that they were allowed back and the ordeal started all over again with the same punishments. It was a JOKE.
I finally got to the point where I told the school that this "dean" was to have ZERO contact with my son and I worked directly with the principal. Things were a bit better but even her hands were tied by school district rules. Complaints to the school district are listened to and then we are patted on the head and told to move on.
There are many many facts left off of this story that has been told to us. It seems most are having a knee-jerk reaction because of emotions in their own lives. I am sorry but those that think its the school fault need to expound on that claim. Why? Did the kid come to them and tell them? Did the teachers see it? Is there a any paperwork stating that this was an issue so the proper people would be told? What did the parents do to help? why wouldn't the school help?
We have a case in our district where a kid has killed himself. His parents are suing the school district. I wholeheartedly agree that some where the ball was dropped but before we decide it was the schools fault lets ask the questions that would properly get us there. Seems it turns out that many times when there is a "bully" its in response to another bully. If its your child you need to see that. Take a hard look at them for some accountability. This kid in our district turned out to be a major offender where bullying is concerned but the parents are adamant that he was a good kid. There are recordings of how big of a punk this kid was. Its a terrible tragedy and should of never happened.
The school are not ment to raise our children but they take part in safety and security. Only With help from the kid and the parents. Otherwise we are just finding some else to blame.
yea. What Rebecca Sain said.
i think that the bullying had probably been going on for a while. the school knew it was going on. i think the fact that he felt he had to bring a gun to school to protect himself because the adults who are supposed to do it failed should be laid at the school's door. i do think there should be some sort of consequence for him, but i think prosecuting this child shows that the school, like most schools, once again is pushing the blame for thier shortcomings off on someone else.
WOW, bullying stinks and all things are bound to happen it is getting scarier and scarier as time goes on ...
Nothing should happen to this child, other than he should get some counseling and then someone needs to find ways to protect him at school. This is a sad sad story.