Dear America,
by Thomas Brown
Its just about dawn here on the 22nd of March. Another day in
this great land of ours has begun. For some it will be another day
of work and the occasional daily ritual of gathering around the water-cooler
at work or in chairs at barbershops, talking about the news that really
matters.
I can hear it now.
“Will the King of Pop make it on time to court today?” “I
wonder what the judge will rule in the Schiavo case?” “Do you think
Barry Bonds is telling the truth about Steroids?” “Did you see Leno
last night? Damn, that guy is funny!” “I’ll bet a dime to a
doughnut that Robert Blake did it” “My kids loved “Robots”
“I’ve got to rush out after work and get Scottie another pair of Soccer
shorts. He’s so hard on them”
And in some places the conversation might be…
“Some friggin’ kid blew away a bunch of school kids in Minnesota”
“I heard he was an Indian” “I don't care what the hell he was, put
em’ in the chair. If they're old enough to kill, then they're old
enough to die for their crime." “That O’ Reilly is right as usual”
“If you ask me, its time to get prayer back in schools” “If you ask
me, it’s time to bring back the board” “Kids these days just don't respect
anyone” “I hope they fry the little bastard”
That won't be possible. Young Jeff Weise killed himself before
authorities could get to him. Reports are now coming in that Jeff
laughed a lot while he pulled the trigger and students are saying that
they could hear cries of “No, Jeff, no!” and “Why?”
And just like it has happened so many times before following a school
shooting, at least one person interviewed by the authorities or the media
is saying that the shooter was teased by classmates.
Teased.
Teased… harassed… picked on… bullied. Its all the same.
So what.
Everyone gets teased and bullied now and then. Bullying is a part
of life… it’s part of being a kid.
It makes you tougher.
Bullcrap.
Yep… that’s what I just said… and that's exactly what I mean.
Just how many school shootings ‘is’ it going to take
before we finally wake up in this
great land of ours and face the brutal reality that many of our
schools are simply not safe?
Just how many times ‘do’ we have to hear about a bullied child taking
their own life, simply because they can't bear another day of emotional
and physical torture in their school, before we get off our butts and do
something about this problem?
They hang themselves with a lamp cord... they overdose on pills... they
shoot themselves in the head… they throw themselves in front of trains...
And they kill classmates…
…these ‘teased’ and ‘bullied’ kids.
There are a handful of states that have done the right thing for our
kids. They have put laws into place about bullying. There are some states
that are ‘considering’ putting laws into place about bullying. In
my mind there shouldn't be any ‘considering.’ It’s a no-brainer.
It should be a done deal.
Our kids should matter.
But the majority of the states in this country seem to care more about
standardized and proficiency tests in ours schools… than the safety and
security of the school kids that take those tests in the first place.
I ask you. Just how proficient can we expect children to ‘be’ if, while
they're sitting in their chair taking that test, their mind is only on
the daily bullying they endure in their school?
For that child already knows, that whether it be in the lunch room,
or in the hallway, or in the bathroom, or on the playground, or during
gym, or in the locker room, or on the bus, at least one person is going
to add to their misery…. At least one child will become the center of attention
as they ‘tease’ and ‘bully’ while dozens of other children stand around
and do absolutely nothing but watch.
Perhaps that child is thinking about ending their pain once and for
all, thinking about that big rope in Grandpa's barn, or those sleeping
pills in the medicine cabinet. Or, perhaps that child is thinking
about the big gun in Uncle Fred's homemade cabinet.
Perhaps that child is thinking about getting even with the bullies…
with the kids that stand around and do nothing …with the teacher who tells
him to quit tattling… with the Principal who ignores his cries of desperation
and for help.
America, I guarantee that while you're reading this those thoughts are
going through some kids minds; more kids than we can imagine.
At one time those same thoughts were in the mind of the boy in Minnesota
who gunned down classmates, as it has been in the minds of the school shooters
at Columbine, in Springfield Oregon; in West Paducah Kentucky, in Pearl
Mississippi and several other places throughout the planet.
And, by God, that should matter to us.
As much as feeding tubes... and Michael Jackson…. and steroids… and
Scotties soccer pants.
It really ‘should’ matter.
Thomas Brown
The Broken Toy Project
Anti-Bullying Awareness Film Creator and Speaker
Bully Police USA - Special Consultant
