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I've been there. Middle school for me was hell; several times I came home thinking of killing myself because of all the hate and spite I received there. Long before Columbine, I had considered placing gas bombs inside lockers and tossing Molotav cocktails down crowded hallways.
Why? Because I felt disconnected. Everyone laughed at me. One of the most popular guys at school, a thug (we were literally right next to the ghetto) named Lamont, picked me for harassment after I brushed past him in the locker.
And the teachers and administrators did almost nothing. What could they do? There were so many hallways they couldn't patrol, so many students that they couldn't keep an eye on them all. So those kids who were easy targets had to learn to survive.
And I did. People may laugh at the thought of me fighting for "survival" now (I'm 6'9" and weigh 320), but back then it was easy to pick on anyone you wanted to. The only thing you could do is find things that you enjoyed, stick with them, and keep yourself out of despair.
I still feel that lack of connection at times, even now as a club president at my University. I wonder if my life is still pathetic, if the fact that I can't seem to find a date is indicative of something wrong with me, or if I'm doing something wrong and people are laughing when I don't look. But then I hang out with my friends, or think about the family that's always been there for me, and it turns me around.
I think that's what this little girl was missing, more than anything else. Something to hold on to.
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If ignorance is bliss, you must be having an orgasm.
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