Columbine Shooting Debate

There was this boy who was an honor roll student that went to school everyday in fear that he would be harassed, hit, and embarrassed. He had been bullied for at least two years with no school official doing anything about it. He finally made up his mind that he was fed up with the harassment and he decided he was going to retaliate against those who victimized him. He was so angry that he brought a gun to school. He ended up killing one teacher and two of his classmates who had been harassing him for so long. He was sentenced to life in prison. Really, was he the only one to blame for this incident or should the courts have prosecuted the bullies that pushed him that far? It has been proven that bullying is responsible for several school shootings,
These children that bring guns and other weapons to school are so fed up with being harassed on a daily basis that they feel this is the only way for the harasser to be punished. A good example of this rage is the Columbine shootings. Dylan Kelbold and Eric Harris killed twelve students, one teacher, and then themselves. The parents of these two teens said that this act of violence was due to bullying (Greenya 103). This shooting was an eye-opener for schools that bullying is a serious problem. In fact, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calls it an emerging health problem. Bullying can cause many problems physically, mentally, and emotionally. Students can become depressed, distressed and have academic problems. This issue is so big in schools and what needs to be answered is why school officials and the government do nothing about it until it is too late. The most sensible answer is because most victims do not report being bullied due to fear of more harassment or humiliation. Also, there are at least sixteen states that have been required to enforce the anti-bullying laws but are very slow to do
Peer pressure plays a big role in bullying. Some students feel like they have to pick on other kids or they will get picked on. Studies have shown that absenteeism and drop out rates are higher due to bullying. Students that are picked on are afraid to go to school because they fear they may get beat up or worse. A seventh grader that was a target for several years told his parents that he was being bullied and his parents sued the school district. Unfortunately the boy was so afraid of more harassment about the lawsuit that he ended up dropping out anyway. There are several other cases just like this one. Students should not be afraid to attend school. School is one of the most important things in a child’s life and these bullies are taking away their education. Educators in Tennessee say that, “Students whose education is disrupted for a period of time may have difficulty catching up and may eventually drop out of school” (Billitteri 152). Bullies do interrupt learning in the fact that a child who is harassed may have to sit all day in a class with the person who is harassing him, how well would this student concentrate? It has come so far that even teachers are starting to quit because they feel they can not handle the pressure anymore of having to discipline so many children for bullying. When a teacher