Very scary

[Skyhigh]

Today at my school a 9th grader was found with a hitlist and apparantly caught writing an e-mail to his brother saying "I can't take it anymore, I can't take the bullying. I need the gun and I need it now." This was especially scary to me because he usually hangs around with my "group". I see him being bullied because he's short and he walks kinda funny, because he doesn't really "fit in". Well this time it could have gotten someone killed. I've always wanted to stop the bullying because I knew eventually something like this would happen but I just couldn't work up the courage. He's a really nice kid and I've talked to him a few times, my friends hang around with him all the time, thankfully non of us were on his list.

Please post your thoughts.

[T-Lovin-Man]

Today at my school a 9th grader was found with a hitlist and apparantly caught writing an e-mail to his brother saying "I can't take it anymore, I can't take the bullying. I need the gun and I need it now." This was especially scary to me because he usually hangs around with my "group". I see him being bullied because he's short and he walks kinda funny, because he doesn't really "fit in". Well this time it could have gotten someone killed. I've always wanted to stop the bullying because I knew eventually something like this would happen but I just couldn't work up the courage. He's a really nice kid and I've talked to him a few times, my friends hang around with him all the time, thankfully non of us were on his list.

Please post your thoughts.

That's fucked up...he has some serious issues that need to be addressed quickly, or he is going to wind up like that kook that went on a shooting spree at Virginia Tech.

Step in dude.....tell someone anonymously about this....get the guy some help, before he really destroys his life by doing something so stupid he will regret it the rest of his life.

[Monstermash]

Bullying can become unbareable for the victim. This is a serious cry for help from him. Skyhigh you and your mates in that group should stick by him, try and boost his self esteem. What sort of bullying is it, name calling or physical? I think that maybe you should talk to whoever is bullying him and warn them if they continue to do it, you at the very least will report them to the teachers. I don't know about getting physical with the bully yourself though, that may not be a good idea. Most of all, look out for your friend.

[Big Ozzie]

It's a cop-out.
I do not understand why these kids feel that they need to turn to violence to "get even"
Kids were picked on when I grew up...I was one of them. I was in and out of the Hospital 9 times during my pre-high school years. Kids picked on me because I was the biggest and tallest in the class, yet due to a Lung and Heart condition I sucked at sports.
There were plenty of kids who got picked on...sometimes they would "flip out" and fight back.
But bring a weapon to school and perform executions on those who made their life miserable?
IMO...this is directly related to how society has become lackadaisical about violence in the media, in Movies, on TV, in Song and Video Games.
We have become calloused to the effects of violence and the sight of blood, guts and gore. It has lost its "shock value" and has become an accepted every day item that we expect to see. And when we do not, we are disappointed and pissed.

[Skyhigh]

Bullying can become unbareable for the victim. This is a serious cry for help from him. Skyhigh you and your mates in that group should stick by him, try and boost his self esteem. What sort of bullying is it, name calling or physical?

Mostly verbal, if he ever has been hit I don't know about it. I feel like screaming at these self-centered ingrates for making fun of him, if fact I feel like screaming at anyone who makes fun of other people.

[ceehound619]

It's a cop-out.
I do not understand why these kids feel that they need to turn to violence to "get even"
Kids were picked on when I grew up...I was one of them. I was in and out of the Hospital 9 times during my pre-high school years. Kids picked on me because I was the biggest and tallest in the class, yet due to a Lung and Heart condition I sucked at sports.
There were plenty of kids who got picked on...sometimes they would "flip out" and fight back.
But bring a weapon to school and perform executions on those who made their life miserable?
IMO...this is directly related to how society has become lackadaisical about violence in the media, in Movies, on TV, in Song and Video Games.
We have become calloused to the effects of violence and the sight of blood, guts and gore. It has lost its "shock value" and has become an accepted every day item that we expect to see. And when we do not, we are disappointed and pissed.
While I would NOT condone shooting people at school...... I also dont think there is enough readily available HELP/RESOURCES for those kids getting bullied.... I think too often kids are told "stop exaggerating/complaining and get back to class.... maybe "bullying" should be taken a LOT more seriously.

[Big Ozzie]

While I would NOT condone shooting people at school...... I also dont think there is enough readily available HELP/RESOURCES for those kids getting bullied.... I think too often kids are told "stop exaggerating/complaining and get back to class.... maybe "bullying" should be taken a LOT more seriously.

I agree^^^It is a National Epidemic according to some. I often see it on the streets in my travels...gangs of kids picking on one or two that do not fit in.
They should make it an offense that is punishable by the school authorities or the Law.

[The Joker]

I remember when i shot up my school and some people where i live...ha...the zodiac is what people called me...ha ha ha....they'll never find me..

[_booted_]

I remember when i shot up my school and some people where i live...ha...the zodiac is what people called me...ha ha ha....they'll never find me..

I watched that film the other day (zodiac) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443706/).. pretty good film too.

[boo_cocky]

This is a classic case of a an abused child...this is EXACTLY what happens.

Read the statistics...among all violent and sexual offenders, there is violence and sexual abuse in their past, they become the hunter because they have been so emotionally scarred by being the hunted.

I'm not excusing what this kid planned to do...somebody needed to step in and help this kid a long time ago before it came to this...but, apparently, no one did...not his parents, not the school system, nobody.

I feel sorry for the kid...imagine how tormented his brain has become to the abuse that he's sufferred, to the point of retalliating with such drastic measures. This could have been Columbine all over again...as horrible as the crimes were those kids committed, imagine their side of it, having the 'cool' kids treat them like worthless animals day in and day out, just to impress their 'clicky' friends.

Hopefully this kid gets the help he needs...his self-esteem is apparently squashed by the years of bullying, and he might even be slipping into psychosis as a result of the abuse. Bullying needs to be addressed for what it is...it's NOT a right of passage for kids to express, it's ABUSE...plain and simple.

Maybe kids will pay attention to all these stories in the news and begin showing a little more compassion to the 'nerdy' kids in school. If someone messes with you, mess back...but don't go messing with a dorky kid who's keeping to himself. There's a big difference between self-defense and bullying, and I'd expect to see a lot more cases of the 'bullies' being handled with unfair justice by their prey in the future.

Very unfortunate, all the way around.

[ceehound619]

This is a classic case of a an abused child...this is EXACTLY what happens.

Read the statistics...among all violent and sexual offenders, there is violence and sexual abuse in their past, they become the hunter because they have been so emotionally scarred by being the hunted.

I'm not excusing what this kid planned to do...somebody needed to step in and help this kid a long time ago before it came to this...but, apparently, no one did...not his parents, not the school system, nobody.

I feel sorry for the kid...imagine how tormented his brain has become to the abuse that he's sufferred, to the point of retalliating with such drastic measures. This could have been Columbine all over again...as horrible as the crimes were those kids committed, imagine their side of it, having the 'cool' kids treat them like worthless animals day in and day out, just to impress their 'clicky' friends.

Hopefully this kid gets the help he needs...his self-esteem is apparently squashed by the years of bullying, and he might even be slipping into psychosis as a result of the abuse. Bullying needs to be addressed for what it is...it's NOT a right of passage for kids to express, it's ABUSE...plain and simple.

Maybe kids will pay attention to all these stories in the news and begin showing a little more compassion to the 'nerdy' kids in school. If someone messes with you, mess back...but don't go messing with a dorky kid who's keeping to himself. There's a big difference between self-defense and bullying, and I'd expect to see a lot more cases of the 'bullies' being handled with unfair justice by their prey in the future.

Very unfortunate, all the way around.
uh yeah.... Im guessing the "bullying" at columbine was at an ALL TIME low for awhile after the shootings. (just a guess)

[boo_cocky]

uh yeah.... Im guessing the "bullying" at columbine was at an ALL TIME low for awhile after the shootings. (just a guess)

lmao...can you imagine? haha...all the bullys bring in candy and video games for the gamer nerdz the next day!

'Hey buddy, thought you might like the new PS2 game...oh, and here's some Hershey chocolate kisses...you and me, we're cool...right?'

[Monstermash]

I agree^^^It is a National Epidemic according to some. I often see it on the streets in my travels...gangs of kids picking on one or two that do not fit in.
They should make it an offense that is punishable by the school authorities or the Law.

Good point Big Oz, they do need to come down much harder on kids who bully. I don't know if corporal punishment still exists anywhere in the states, its been abolished over here in the UK since the late 80s, but the one thing I do agree with is that it should be brought back and used on bullies. I think there is too much of a soft touch on kids these days, they are allowed to get away with things I would not even have imagined back when I was their age.

[Anony-mous]

While I would NOT condone shooting people at school...... I also dont think there is enough readily available HELP/RESOURCES for those kids getting bullied.... I think too often kids are told "stop exaggerating/complaining and get back to class.... maybe "bullying" should be taken a LOT more seriously.
it is look past very often and imo should be either a detention, or with multiple occurances; a suspension. i try to make friends with everyone wierd, odd, uncool, w/e anyone and i will be their friend as long as they return the favor and are cool to me. call me what you want, but the if the day comes that a kid goes bazirco on teh world; im on his good side (hopefuly). and if you are friends with him when he is planning, it is likely that he will expose his plan and you can interfere and stop him. :2twocents:

[SolarBear]

Today at my school a 9th grader was found with a hitlist and apparantly caught writing an e-mail to his brother saying "I can't take it anymore, I can't take the bullying. I need the gun and I need it now." This was especially scary to me because he usually hangs around with my "group". I see him being bullied because he's short and he walks kinda funny, because he doesn't really "fit in". Well this time it could have gotten someone killed. I've always wanted to stop the bullying because I knew eventually something like this would happen but I just couldn't work up the courage. He's a really nice kid and I've talked to him a few times, my friends hang around with him all the time, thankfully non of us were on his list.

Please post your thoughts.

Pay extra attention to what's going on around you for a while. If you notice any sudden or drastic changes in his mood, get away fom him.

Chances are, nothing will happen. He's probably not going to shoot anybody. Every day thousands of kids are bullied, and every one of them at some time entertains ideas of revenge. Some of them make plans to do something about it, but only a few of them actually do it. So this definitely isn't something you need to lie awake at night worrying about. But it still has to be taken seriously, because if anything does happen, it will happen fast, and the fact that you weren't on somebody's list won't guarantee your safety. You don't need to walk around afraid all the time, just be aware of what's happening around you and be ready to get away if there's a threat.

I recommend that you continue to be courteous and respectful to this kid, but don't be overly friendly, and don't ask him any questions about the situation or antagonize him in any way. If he brings it up, tell him you think he should talk to some adult he trusts. This isn't something you want to be involved in.

As far as putting a stop to this kind of thing in the future, I've found that it works best if you don't get intense with the people responsible for the bullying. Don't make a heartfelt speech about why it's wrong and how they shouldn't be treating people that way. Just calmly go "Come on guys, enough is enough" or something like that. That may not stop the behavior, but it's all you can really do. If you act like it's a big deal, things are only going to get worse, and you may end up making yourself a target too.

[Afronaught]

Today at my school a 9th grader was found with a hitlist and apparantly caught writing an e-mail to his brother saying "I can't take it anymore, I can't take the bullying. I need the gun and I need it now." This was especially scary to me because he usually hangs around with my "group". I see him being bullied because he's short and he walks kinda funny, because he doesn't really "fit in". Well this time it could have gotten someone killed. I've always wanted to stop the bullying because I knew eventually something like this would happen but I just couldn't work up the courage. He's a really nice kid and I've talked to him a few times, my friends hang around with him all the time, thankfully non of us were on his list.

Please post your thoughts.

Bullying is a serious problem and sometimes even though school policies are put into force, it does not solve the problem...

The student body needs to be more involved in preventing bullying whereas the students aid bullying victims and expose bullies amongst the student body. It could be done in a number of ways like outcasting bullies from social circles at schools, and more support from social groups in the student body to bullying victims. Most Victims have a low self esteem and need to be supported by peers within the school.

The best way to appoach it would be to set up a joint Student teacher ascociation with counseling services and backed up by local law enforcement, for violent bullying incidents.

But it is important to set it up in sutch a way that the student body at the school accepts tollerance for ethnic, gender, obesity, and social situations. A bully generally is a coward who preys on the weak so bully monitoring needs to be set up, and a reporting system like a note drop box where students could drop notes anonomously into a box about bullying incidents.

It is important for students to also be able to Identify types of bulling, whether physical or mental, so a proffesional counselor needs to be involved to help students be aware about bullying. Teachers need to be able to identify it in the classroom and act on it in conjunction with the student body.

[boo_cocky]

Bullying is a serious problem and sometimes even though school policies are put into force, it does not solve the problem...

The student body needs to be more involved in preventing bullying whereas the students aid bullying victims and expose bullies amongst the student body. It could be done in a number of ways like outcasting bullies from social circles at schools, and more support from social groups in the student body to bullying victims. Most Victims have a low self esteem and need to be supported by peers within the school.

The best way to appoach it would be to set up a joint Student teacher ascociation with counseling services and backed up by local law enforcement, for violent bullying incidents.

But it is important to set it up in sutch a way that the student body at the school accepts tollerance for ethnic, gender, obesity, and social situations. A bully generally is a coward who preys on the weak so bully monitoring needs to be set up, and a reporting system like a note drop box where students could drop notes anonomously into a box about bullying incidents.

It is important for students to also be able to Identify types of bulling, whether physical or mental, so a proffesional counselor needs to be involved to help students be aware about bullying. Teachers need to be able to identify it in the classroom and act on it in conjunction with the student body.

That is a great concept, but often the kids who make up the Student Body are the 'popular' kids...and often the 'popular' kids are the one's doing the bullying.

It always seems to be the jocks and the Mr. & Ms. Populars that are somehow 'elected' to deem who is cool and who is not...I just don't see kids that age being able to separate their responsibility to the Council they belong to from the responsibility they hold of themselves to remain in the elite 'cool' club with their peers.

[Afronaught]

That is a great concept, but often the kids who make up the Student Body are the 'popular' kids...and often the 'popular' kids are the one's doing the bullying.

It always seems to be the jocks and the Mr. & Ms. Populars that are somehow 'elected' to deem who is cool and who is not...I just don't see kids that age being able to separate their responsibility to the Council they belong to from the responsibility they hold of themselves to remain in the elite 'cool' club with their peers.

Yes that is what makes it so difficult, there would need to be a short term and long term system in place... schools would have to change its policies... It wouldent be a process that happens over night as it is inherent in human nature to resist radical change... There have been cases where it has been done and effectively too... but they were'nt U.S. school models... I'm not to familiar with the U.S. Education system.

[Skyhigh]

It just really freaked me out because I have so many friends and people close to me that I really care about. If I lost any of them, I wouldn't know what to do... Especially my good friend Anna.

[Afronaught]

It just really freaked me out because I have so many friends and people close to me that I really care about. If I lost any of them, I wouldn't know what to do... Especially my good friend Anna.

Well if it freaked you out, thats good, chances are it would have freaked out other students too, so you could take the opportunity for some positive intervention. If your school has counsellors You could turn it into something positive for the bullied kid.

[MontysDouble]

I'm glad that the kid's 'plans' were discovered.

It's pathetic how kids form little groups and delight in ostracising, ridiculing and otherwise abusing the 'easy target,' who if they weren't a loner before the bullying, are more likely to become one because of it: What's the big cliche you hear about a spree killer after he's done the deed and the journalists are interviewing his (yes, his) neigbours? "He was such a quiet man, never had a spot of bother with him..."

Social isolation can lead to psychopathy.

[HeyBuddy]

I don't really want to repeat what everyone else has said. I'll just agree that bullying needs to be taken more seriously.

I also think that the schools need to work with Child Protective Services to find out what is wrong in the bully's heads. I don't think that normal people are born with the desire to degrade others.

Finally, I wonder if anyone has done any research to find out what has changed over the years. 1) When I was in school, and there was someone being bullied, there were usually a few or more people who stood up to the bully. 2) Kids who were bullied persistently, attempted suicide. I know that's not a good option either, and I'm not advocating that. I'm just wondering when it went from, "I'm going to kill myself" to "I'm going to kill all of THEM". I wonder if we could figure out, what caused that shift, and if knowing what caused it would give us some answers on how to prevent both.

[Afronaught]

I don't really want to repeat what everyone else has said. I'll just agree that bullying needs to be taken more seriously.

I also think that the schools need to work with Child Protective Services to find out what is wrong in the bully's heads. I don't think that normal people are born with the desire to degrade others.

Finally, I wonder if anyone has done any research to find out what has changed over the years. 1) When I was in school, and there was someone being bullied, there were usually a few or more people who stood up to the bully. 2) Kids who were bullied persistently, attempted suicide. I know that's not a good option either, and I'm not advocating that. I'm just wondering when it went from, "I'm going to kill myself" to "I'm going to kill all of THEM". I wonder if we could figure out, what caused that shift, and if knowing what caused it would give us some answers on how to prevent both.

Pertaining to Suicide vs Shootings

I think IMO that there are still more suicides related to bulling than revenge killings, but with the recent events with school related shootings the focus has turned to the revenge aspect. Many Bully victims have thaughts about taking revenge out on their tormentors but I think becuse of low self esteem they take the easier way out by commiting suecide, Victimized kids usually try and stay away from their tormentors and rarley confront them.

[Josh85]

Bah, I thought everyone had a hitlist back in school. I was going to take the more manly option and go on a rampage with a screwdriver instead of a gun but w/e.

[Heero Valentine]

actually flipping out was the best thing that happend to me when i was 11.
broke the bully's nose when he tried to stab me.
no problems in my last year of that school xD