Today when I came home I did what I normally do. I turned on my computer and started checking some emails. One email I came across was from my aunt about bullying. It had to do with a 10 year old girl from Illinois who hung herself this weekend due to being bullied. 10 years old! Are people for real? This child felt so tired of being bullied that she resorted to the only thing she felt was left to do. To kill herself. She can't come back. She chose to end her life rather than live another day going to school and being bullied by her peers. It sickens me, it really does. This is one of the youngest cases of suicide from bullying that I have ever heard. She was just a child. She didn't even get to live, to get past the stupid ignorant people in her school, and to live a great life. This is all becoming way to common. There really needs to be an end to bullying because too many young innocent people are dying as a result.
Whenever I read a story about a suicide from bullying I almost immediately wonder how the bullies feel when they hear the news. Are they ashamed? Remorseful? Do they realize and admit to themselves or others that they are the reason this other child, their peer, is not here anymore. That this child is not coming back? That he/she barely got to live their life. That they took someone from his/hers family. The sad part is I bet a lot of these bullies say to themselves, "It wasn't my fault. Not me. I did not make that person do that." I wonder if it would make a difference if someone said to the bully, "This is your fault. She did that to herself because of your constant tormenting." I wonder if that would have an impact. Would the bully stop bullying?
All excellent questions. There are a lot of posts on bullying this week in your class, and it is sad that our culture is so saturated with this. As teachers, we have to hold our students accountable for the things that they say and do. And, we need to make those students who appear quiet and withdrawn realize that we value them.
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