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Bill O'Rights · 03-03-2004, 07:31 AM

When Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold forever changed Columbine High School, I was one of the very few people to number them with the victims. I didn’t have to wonder what drove them to such extremes…I knew. They had been driven over the edge by those that taunted, harassed and abused them. In no way am I condoning their actions, but I do understand why they did what they felt that they had to do. People seem to be so quick with the mantra; “Where were the parents?”. I say; where was the system? Where was the safety net that could have protected Harris and Klebold, and prevented them from feeling so trapped that mass murder and suicide seemed like a viable option?

I am submitting to you, an article from yesterdays Omaha World Herald, the local rag that I read. Following the article, I am including some local reader’s comments, in response to the article.

Click here to see the original article in the Omaha World Herald.

Quote:

Kayla Brengman, 13, lay in the snow and took the beating.

She wished her mother would drive up and scatter the crowd of students pressing in around her Feb. 10 on a hill near the running track at La Vista Junior High School.

Six girls - four of whom arranged the first letters of their first names to call themselves the "S.M.A.K" girls - hit, slapped and kicked her, according to police reports.

Then one of the girls bent down, Kayla said, and left a warning: "If you tell anyone, we'll hurt you again."

Kayla didn't tell, at first.

Neither did the crowd of about 15 other kids who watched the beating and even chanted and taunted her.

The failure of onlookers to take action made the incident strikingly similar to the Feb. 19 beating of a Millard North High School student. That attack was videotaped by another student and watched by a crowd of up to 20 students, who had driven to the victim's house, police said.

Bystanders to violence are increasingly getting the attention of psychologists as school officials try to spur them to report incidents, said a psychologist with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

"What we're really trying to understand more about are these kids who watch bullying or an aggressive act and then don't intervene," said Susan Swearer, assistant professor of educational psychology and an expert on bullying.

Kayla got only bumps and bruises, thanks, in part, to a quilted parka, said her mother, Beth Roth of Papillion.

But Roth feels "just sick" that no one in the crowd intervened or ran for help. She said students need more education on how to handle these situations.

Annette Eyman, spokeswoman for the Papillion-La Vista Public Schools, described the incident at La Vista Junior High as "horrible." Eyman said school officials share Roth's concern about the bystanders.

"That's the thing that makes the school so disgusted with this incident," Eyman said.

After the beating, district officials sent letters urging parents to tell children what to do if they witness fights and bullying.

The letter asked parents to talk about peer pressure and "about not using popularity or violence to intimidate other students."

District officials are discussing whether more education is needed in the classroom, she said.

Swearer said incidents like these serve as a "wake-up call" to schools. But turning bystanders into good Samaritans isn't easy, she said.

Bystanders often must overcome intense peer pressure or intimidation to take action, she said. Teens tell researchers that reporting or trying to stop an incident can be "the kiss of death," she said.

"If you intervene, that's risky, you may get it next time," she said.

"I guess people just really don't care," said Kayla, whose parents placed her in a private school after the incident. "They just want to fit in with the popular crowd."

Her mother said parents share responsibility.

"Around here, there's a lot of the tail wagging the dog," Beth Roth said. "Teenagers are calling the shots."

Now, here are some comments from some Omaha area people that read that article, in the paper.

Quote:

So, Papillion LaVista is "horrified" at the little girl being assaulted. I voiced my concerns to Papio Jr High eight years ago about the bullying at that "zoo of a middle school", in the hallways, between class change. I received nothing but lip service from the district. My son would come home from school with cuts and scratches, from being slammed against lockers. Appears nothing has changed with the districts attitude.

Quote:

I feel for Mrs. Roth and her daughter. My child, attended LaVista Jr. High in 1997, was confronted by 4 female gang wantabees, & 20 other student onlookers, ready to cheer them on. School officials made me feel like my kid was the problem, and to deal with it. I told the Asst. Principal, at that time, if my daughter was assaulted, I was holding them personally responsible. It later came out that they had had over 300 police calls to LaVista Jr. High that year. The same problem exists.

Quote:

My child used to attend the middle school in Fremont. The bullying, a lot by girls not just boys, went on constantly. Kids hate to go to school unless they're one of the few rich beautiful people. One girl was attacked in the bathroom and they cut her long hair off. There's no protection for our kids.

Quote:

I had the same problem with my daughter. I never had the problem with my sons because they made it clear that the three of them would stand together against anyone who wanted to fight one of them. My daughter was younger and not as aggressive as her brothers. It took visits to the school, to the police station with the names of the girls harassing her and threats to the parents of those girls and their friends with restraining orders and lawsuits before they backed off and left her alone. Fight fire w/fir

Why am I still reading about this crap in 2004. Have we learned absolutely nothing from Columbine? Was it only good for forwarding an anti-gun agenda. Wake the hell up people. It’s situations like these that give birth to the Dylan Klebolds, and the Eric Harris. We created them. We nurtured them by doing nothing more than being the bystanders that this article denounces. Maybe, just maybe,it could be stopped if we hit the problem head on, and attacked it at its’ roots…the “bully”. Maybe the school district could do just a little more than;

Quote:

After the beating, district officials sent letters urging parents to tell children what to do if they witness fights and bullying.
The letter asked parents to talk about peer pressure and "about not using popularity or violence to intimidate other students."
District officials are discussing whether more education is needed in the classroom, she said.

Sorry for the ramble. What do YOU think?