Power and control drive school bullies:
This is a long-winded article about bullying that brings nothing new to the table. Let me sum it up for you…bullying is and has always been a problem, teachers and students do nothing about it, and here are some tips to prevent it that don’t work in the real world. It’s the usual stuff in these anti-bullying articles.
For once, I’d like to see some real information in these articles, like telling parents that their kid may be a bully. But as we all know, it’s not about personal responsibility anymore. And speaking of which, I have a bone to pick with a few words in this article. Mainly…
One of those kids has been in police custody since September. Andrew Osantowski, 17, who is expected to stand trial June 7 in Macomb County, is accused of creating a hit list and plotting to blow up Chippewa Valley High School in Clinton Township. Schoolmates told the Free Press at the time of his arrest that he was the victim of near-constant bullying.
He’s not alone. From Red Lake, Minn., to Columbine High in Colorado, bullying is partly blamed for deep-seated problems that end in tragedy.
And the myth perpetuates once more. What makes it worse is that when it’s printed in a “legitimate” media outlet, people take it to heart as fact.
In the case of Andrew Osantowski, I only saw him mention bullying once in the chat transcript, but never said if it was him being bullied. Also, on his websites, he never talked about bullying. He spoke mostly of his past criminal exploits and his fascination with Nazism. And if you’re telling people at school that you are a Nazi, then you’re inviting trouble on to yourself.
In the case of Jeff Weise, he was the bully rather than the bullied. According to reports, he bullied kids who listened to rap music, which is ironic considering, he listened to rap himself.
As far as I can tell in the FBI report, Eric Harris’ bullying consisted of being made fun of in gym class on two separate occasions and Dylan Klebold bullied the mentally handicapped.
I know this asking a little too much, but journalists, please do a little more research before listing myth and urban legend as fact. When you print these myths as fact, it lends the would-be school shooter legitimacy to their violent plans for vengeance.
