There has been yet another school shooting today, in Indiana this time, committed by a teenager. Since Santa Fe, Texas last week, there has been a lot of talk again about how bullying may have played into it...that one of the girls killed had turned the kid down twice, and then embarrassed him in class when he persisted. I'm about certain, in this Indiana case, bullying is going to come up again.
So, let's talk about this bullying aspect to the 4 shooters in 15 days that have been teenagers!
Bullying has been going on for decades! I'm 45, and I can still remember being bullied in school, as I'm sure most of us can remember being bullied at some point in school. If you weren't bullied, chances are you were the one doing the bullying. Stealing lunch money, giving wedgies...there are many forms of bullying that have happened over the years. Bullying has been the focus of so many storylines in movies and such...some serious, some funny. I remember watching Revenge of the Nerds, and routing for those "nerds" because I could relate to them!
At first, I was picked on to the point of going home crying for my acne. It started at a young age for me, and it was pretty bad. Can't recall how many times I heard the term "pizza face". I would go home and cry...begging my mom to help me by taking me to a doctor, or allowing me to at least wear some sort of foundation makeup to try to cover it up. She wouldn't take me to a dermatologist. Instead, I heard over and over that acne was just a part of growing up! Mom also stood firm to her "no makeup until you are 15" rule...so no relief for me their, either.
On top of that, I was always what I call...well...quirky. I was attracted to computers at an early age, and I was just good at them. I was always a "bit of a nerd" you could say...having made all A's in all my years of grade school. But I also found myself in a place where I was very different! I ended up going to school in small town Texas. Back then, that meant that this very small population was mostly "country"...Roper boots, jeans, etc. And then there was me...punk rock/new wave, granny boots instead of cowboy boots, skinny pants instead of Wrangler jeans, all black some days, crazy neon colors the next, earrings never matched...listening to Duran Duran, The Cure, Siouxsie Sioux, and a host of other MTV 120 Minute favorites, while the rest of the school listened to George Strait, Reba McIntyer, Randy Travis, and the likes. I was the odd-ball, and it was made known to me!
We had a group in school that to this day I affectionately call "The Misfits". We were the kids who really didn't fit in. We were the one-offs that in some larger school somewhere else, we may have found a group of kids just like us...but not here where a grade averaged 50 students or less. We had everyone. The girl who had a terrible scar on her chest that looked like you could just lace her up, because that is what they had to do when she was younger, they had to go in to work on her heart so many times. The guy that everyone was certain was gay, but no one knew for sure. They guy who was years older than us...because he had failed grades too many times (who did end up being the "diva" I know and love still to this day). While everyone was in their cliques in the morning gossiping about the world, you could find us on the floor in a hallway somewhere playing Uno! We were called names. We were pushed around. Sometimes one of us got beat up.
Now, I can't speak for the others, but NOT ONCE did I ever consider walking into the school and shooting it up! I watched horror movies with as much blood and gore as you could imagine! My punk rock music wasn't the "nicest" thing to listen to, for sure! Lots of screaming about anarchy and the likes. My favorite show was Miami Vice, which every week they were in to drugs, and shooting up stuff, and fights, etc. We didn't have the same video games...I was no stranger to Centipede. But even still, I never even considered shooting up a school. Spreading a rumor as revenge, maybe...but never shooting up the place!
So, what has changed from the 1980's until now? Okay...so video games may have gotten more realistic...possibly desensitizing kids to violence. But for decades, kids' behavior has been blamed on media of some sort, and we have not seen terror like we are seeing today. You can't blame it on abortions, either. Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973. Before that, women were getting back alley abortions, using coat hangers, etc. to get rid of unwanted pregnancy. We had the "Free Love" era of the 60's along women burning their bras. I'm certain there were plenty of abortions back then. Still, you didn't see people, or kids, trying to shoot up a school every week. Even just a few decade or a few years ago...this wasn't as common an occurrence as it is NOW!
What has changed?! Try the climate of America! While bullying used to be something you mainly saw in the school yards, and grown folk mostly acted like grown folk, that isn't the case any longer! Sure, there were the shouts of racial slurs on the streets, or in the work place. There were environments that felt hostile. However, most people could go to their homes, and that was their safe place. It isn't that way any longer!!! We have elected officials bullying the media, various people groups, etc. on TV and social media every day!! Every day there is another list of hurtful statements said about a people. Then, have this media outlet spewing hate about one side, and the other media outlet spewing hate about he other.....hate hate hate hate hate! Everywhere...hate!
To add fire, the skin of society has gotten thinner, in general. There are many legit complaints out there, but when you have a political commentator on national TV complaining about getting water thrown on her, because of her past hateful comments on air. When you have a kid who can't simply walk away from a girl who won't go out with him, and has to pester her to the point of being embarrassed in front of a whole class, and later coming to school with a gun killing her and several others. You have a President getting butt hurt over something the New York Times or CNN said about him, or about some football players kneeling to protest police brutality and unequal treatment of people of color...turning to social media for days with rants, when we all know he has better things to do! This same President then turns around and calls impoverished countries shitholes, undocumented immigrants rapists, and a variety of other hateful comments.
Yes, bullying may be at play here, but it is because as a country, we are all bombarded by it every day! It is the new social norm!!! You can't even have an intellectual debate on social media any longer without the name calling starting. Say you support BLM or gun reform...out comes the "libtard" comments. You want to know where these kids are getting all this hate and violence from? It isn't the media. It isn't video games. It is the very people who are raising them!