Bullying, Suicide, and Murder
Last week in this space I connected the dots between bullying and the suicides and attempted suicides by children and adolescents, pointing out the close correlation between them. This week, I want to surface an equally grim reality: school shootings are also closely correlated with bullying.
Fortunately, there are a number of simple steps that we can take to reduce bullying and, by extension, suicides, suicide attempts, and school shootings.
Let’s cut to the chase: Girls who are bullied beyond their breaking point are most likely to try to kill themselves, not others. All too often they succeed.
By contrast, boys who reach the breaking point are far more likely to try to kill others. All too often, they are successful.
Girls rarely use guns. Boys usually do. And guns almost always function they way they are supposed to, meaning that people die. And, sadly, guns are readily available in modern America. (About 70% of school shooters got their weapons at home or from relatives, according to ABC News.)
“The modern era of school shootings” (an awful phrase) began on April 20, 1999 in Littleton, Colorado, when two white male teenagers who had been bullied excessively shot up their high school, Columbine High, killing 13 people and wounding at least 20 others before they turned their guns on themselves. The ensuing 19+ years have seen close to 300 school shootings including Sandy Hook in Newtown, Connecticut and Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, two that you no doubt remember. By the way, at least 65 of the shooters Continue reading: Bullying, Suicide, and Murder | The Merrow Report
