bullies

Yesterday, a young man took a gun to school (just a few blocks from where my parents live) with the intention of ending the life of another young man. I was prepared to report that he had been unsuccessful, but, sadly, this afternoon, the police released a report announcing the death of the other student. Late reports yesterday and this morning were that though he had been shot in the head and back, but that he was improving.

All day long (yesterday), people commented on the local newspaper story. Apparently the TV stations were reporting the young man who was shot had been killed. Those rumors were put down by a staff member who was monitoring comments. Along with the rumors of death came rumors of bullying and about whether or not the young man who had been shot was perceived as or had expressed that he was homosexual. There was even maligning of character based on the fact that both victim and shooter were middle school at the age of 15. (Turns out only the victim was 15, the shooter was 14...though the facts as we know them have been changing hourly.)

More disturbing than all of that, which was indeed disturbing, was the intense attack on Latinos and immigrants. Almost immediately, since the names were not released, many started speculating that these were Latinos, that they were recent immigrants and that they were gang members, family members of gang members or ex-gang members. Notice AND and not and/or. The not so below the surface racism that infects the anti-immigrant debate is hardly even glossed by those who post ANONYMOUSLY on these comments.

Interestingly, much of the discussion on the article, especially after the names were leaked, was about bullies and bullying. I can think of no better embodiment of bullying than anonymously posting about that which you nothing but have very strong judgements. Spewing hatred in the guise of opinions about a current event, especially anonymously, is bullying any way you look at it. It is not simply saying how you feel, it is intended to be hurtful; it is intended to make someone feel less than.

I grieve for the young man whose life was so brutally cut short; I grieve for the young man who felt that shooting was an appropriate way to settle any dispute; I grieve for the person who allowed a troubled young man to get his hands on a gun (which includes all of us registered voters who continue to bow to the gun lobby -- yes, I said it, and I mean it, guns kill people just like people kill people); and I grieve for my hometown. This is a scar that will be very difficult to heal. Vengeance and retribution will only cause more pain and impede our healing. Hear me clearly saying, putting this 14 year old in jail for the rest of his life is not justice, that is vengeance. We need to get this young man some help. We don't have to destroy another life in order to demonstrate our anger and frustration at the taking of such a young life.

[The link above does not include the initial comments made -- that is those that were made before the names were released; but it does include some of the responses to the spewing of the venom from yesterday.]