Baseball phenom, 13, dies by suicide. He came home from school, left video: 'I hate my life'

[ShazzieB]

55. For that to happen, schools would have to actually give a crap about bullied kids.

Last edited Sat Apr 1, 2023, 09:37 PM - Edit history (1)

And they don't. Okay, I think some do, but a hell of a lot of them don't, no matter what lip service they may give to the issue of bullying.

I say this as a kid who was bullied. The schools I went to did not show any signs of caring. I was a quiet kid who didn't act out and whose academic performance was uneven but nowhere close to flunking out. The kind of kid whose problems get ignored, because the school is too busy dealing with the kids who are causing them problems by being disruptive.

When I was a kid, schools didn't have nearly as many pressures on them as schools today have, so I don't know what their excuse was back then, for not trying to help kids like me. Nowadays, schools have a lot more to contend with, which probably makes it even easier to ignore kids who are struggling but not doing anything to call attention to themselves.

Bullying has become a hot button issue in recent years, which means most school administrators recognize (or at least claim to recognize) that it's a problem that should be addressed in some way That is more than they did when I was in school, but it's not nearly enough. Too many of them are like the superintent quoted in this story, ready to spout jargon but not actually DO anything to help. (Did anyone else want to punch him in the face? Because I sure did.

Classroom teachers are better than administrators, on the whole. Some really do care. I had some great ones. But I think the system as a whole was and is often stacked against them and against kids like me and the kid in this story who are miserable but not disruptive. That sucks.

I apologize for spending so much time talking about myself in here. When I read about a bullied kid like Terry, I can't help but see myself, and all those emotions come flooding back. Triggering is an overused word nowadays, but that's what this is for me.

For every tragedy like this one, I can't help but wonder how many other kids there are who survive the bullying and seem to be doing okay but still carry the burden of these experiences and always will. The memories may fade into the background, but they NEVER really go away.