Why Dylan Klebold had a point

A few years ago I read in The Atlantic Monthly a little blurb on some research completed by some university in Calif. The research was on the psyche' of bullies and their own self-esteem. The prevailing knowledge had been that bullies suffered from a poor self-image, a poor self-esteem, and where just lashing out to hide their own insecurities. As those of us who were constantly bullied throughout his pre-college school life, we knew instinctively this was pure bullshit. The research showed that these bullies actually typically are type A personality-type who are very confident, very aggressive and seem to get some joy out of humiliating others.

Even as a liberal, I am leery of being too careful about being a baby. I railed against those stupid Rutgers basketball women that Imus called "Nappy Headed Ho's" because they needed to grow up and they needed to get a grip. I think once you reach a certain age, you need to be able to call BS and move on without starting a national incident over something as feeble as Imus' comments (almost has the effect of the boy crying wolf one too many times...call me when there's something to really be outraged about).

However, as this article shows from MSNBC a few days ago, bullies start their crap early and they only get more confident when they are allowed to get away with it. I have kicked a few students literally out of my room instantaneously when they showed such disrespect for a fellow student because you need to nip it in the bud early.

Again, as a teacher, I don't WANT to be the person doing this teaching; I shouldn't have to raise your kids for you. But, if your child says something to another child of that sort in my room and I catch it, you can be sure they will go down fast. And, if it keeps happening, I will call you, and if it still happens, I will resort to calling them out in the middle of the whole group. Even first graders.

Klebold and the Columbine kids got pissed and started shooting because they were being made fun of and they felt they had no other option. I do not endorse what Dylan did, nor other kids in school shootings, but as a student who was repeatedly bullied and laughed at in school...I can honestly say, there were times when I debated bringing a gun and killing the asshat(s) who were doing the bullying because I felt that was the only way I could get people's attention to my plight. Not to mention, I wanted them to feel for a good few seconds the terror I felt every day walking through those hallways trying to dodge all sorts of crap.

I was ankled at lunch, I had kids try to stuff me in a locker, I had one smash my head into a piano, I had another one grab my shirt where a collar would be and threaten me...all sorts of shit from middle school on up. I didn't have anything serious from grades K-5, but there was stuff, and kids are much more sophisticated these days.

Bullying has got to stop, and parents you must set a good example.