For people who don't know me and haven't read all of this journal I was one of those students in elementary and highschool who got picked on. I am not saying it was just the occasional making fun of. I am talking about down right cruel behaviour towards me. Everyday I was afraid to go to school, afraid of what was to come. Would it be a verbal attack towards me? Would the attack leave me with physical or mental scars? More often then not these were cruel verbal attacks on me as a valuable person of society. Often I was made to cry, I was humiliated, belittled, I felt the distain and disrespect of my fellow peers. NO one should ever have to endure this type of behaviour.
So last night Degrassi was facing the issue of bullying, cruel behaviour towards a classmate who did not fit in for one reason or another. His fellow peers were ignorant and self centered thinking it was fun to treat another human being with such little respect. This victim went to the principle several times to complain about the treatment he was receiving and all the while the teachers and principle swept the issue under the rug. (In reality that is what happens trust me...been there I know it)
The in crowd decided to play a cruel joke on him (very similar to one that I endured only mine was chocolate and banana pudding). They decided that the winner of the trivia would have a bucket of yellow paint dropped on them then a bucket of feathers. The trivia was rigged so that he would get all the answers correct. Feeling like people were cheering for him he was proud of this achievement. (I know I did) In the end the entire school his classmates and friends were laughing at him. This was not a friendly joke it was mean and extremely cruel. I identified with this student the way only a very few people ever could. This student left the school and went home only to return to school with a gun.
In no way am I saying that killing people is justified but I can also understand why and how someone can be pushed to that extreme. In the end that student shot two fellow classmates, classmates he was lead to believe co-ordinated this prank. He himself was shot in a struggle for the gun and died.
After the shooting the students labled him a "freak" "a psycho" "a maniac" He did what he thought he had to do to keep himself safe he was pushed over the edge no fault of his own. There were no supports for him and he is labled as the one with the problem. I guess they were right he did have a problem, as a teenager he felt that he had no one to protect him, no one to support him. I was angered that the principle stated how busy he was and that he didnt have time to deal with this students problem. He thought the issues would go away.
The sad reality is that, this is really how schools are run. Students have no support. Bully's do what they want, when they want and to whom they want with little if no regards to anyone else but themselves. When someone finally retaliates although extreme it is the true victim who is yet again blamed because after all he/she was psycho. Perhaps teachers/principles/politicians/cops/social workers should be looking at the system and start blaming themselves for not being there for kids, for not supporting the ones who need it and not putting a STOP to the abuse.
Bullying is still ABUSE even though it is not coming from an adult. Abusive behaviour endured as a teen scars for life. It has taken me many hours of therapy and many years to try and over come the long term lasting effects of what I have had to deal with. The affects of being bullied does not end when you leave the school or after you graduate. This is something students need to start realizing.