Bullying, Mass Murder, &Fighting Back (taking off our rose colored glasses)

WHEN DAVY CROCKETT was about twelve years old, his father, a drunken child beating tavern owner, suddenly had the bright idea of sending him to school, part time, to better educate the kid to perform better slave labor around the house and tavern. Davy went for three days; and got bullied by older kids. Three days of this was more than enough for the future king of the wild frontier. ON day four he lay in wait in the woods, and when his chief antagonizer passed by along the frontierish tree lined trail, Davy jumped out, sprang upon, and,in his words, "give 'im salt and vinegar." When I was about the same age, in nineteen sixties midwestern suburban America, I took a different approach. There were two well known bullies, and I befriended them. Strength, through warmth. Hell, everybody else stayed far away from Donald and Lee, but I hung out with 'em. Not bad guys, really, once you got to know 'em. At one point I even helped Donald raise his grade in science from an "F", to a "C"; to this day one of my proudest and fondest achievements. I never got bullied, while others did. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. I once told Donald that if I ever wanted to I could become a mean bully, just like him, and he took my word for it, even though I was lying through my teeth. (The idea had crossed my mind, but I dismissed it as impractical.) Bullying's been around a long time, since sex, probably, and boys who are bullied have for ages been admonished to take it like a man, stand up to it, we all have to deal with it, don't let it bother you, ad nauseum. My own father reminded me that since I was smaller, I had to be quicker. Gee, thanks, dad. Our weapons are becoming more powerful, our means of communication more efficient, and our population greater, while the forms and frequency of bullying, among children and adults, have proliferated proportionately. Amazing what a culture based on competition, winning, losing, greed, and success can do to folks. I hung out with the snobbish rich kids and the blue collar trailor park bullies with equal dexterity, but my talents are rare. News flash: anywhere you have a mass murder in a public school in these United States, you have, almost without exception, a case of severe bullying. No, not a case of a bad apple or a mentally ill misfit going rogue, but rather, bullying, one of our many questionable American pasttimes. Thats what happened at Columbine, that's what happened at Sandy Hook, that's what goin' down all over, homes. Bullying goes on at school, parents ingore their own bully-child's bad behavior, victim's father says hang tough, teachers and administrators pay token heed, then go about their busy schedules. Job security. A perfect storm. The Columbine massacre was investigated, believe it or not, by the CIA; it simply must have involved foreign terrorists! Due to privacy laws no investigation was ever conducted to reveal the obvious, the source, the bullying. We still have our heads in the sand, but are showing signs of willingness to emerge and look around. Even as these words were typed, (morning, 10/21) a shooter at a Nevada middle school killed somebody, and wounded somebody else. According to the first press releases, the shooter died of a self inflicted wound, and is now in custody. So, the facts are a bit murky at this early time. But five'll get you ten the kid with the gun was being...you guessed it...bullied. But we'll see. Word is that the planned response is to train fifty thousand more police officers on how to stop the shootings the moment they begin. Lotta good that'll do. Next, give all the "good people" guns, take all the guns away from the "bad people", build a few more prisons and fill 'em up. Big bandage for a gaping wound, but not a hint of dealing with the real source, which is us, and the way we live. Citizen's groups are being organized around America to fight back, to deal with the bulling epidemic. Who knows? Maybe soon we'll completely take off our rose colored glasses!