Through The Eyes Of The Bullied: Why School Shootings Happen

     Someone recently asked me what I thought about the latest school shooting in Ohio and It got me thinking. You see, I have an insight into the mind of these kids who unload round after round into their classmates. I was just like 99% of them. I was the kid in school many of you didn't even know existed, and those of you who did realize it made that existence even more of a living hell.

     Many of you won't, or will never care to, understand why these school shootings happen. You'll go on believing that Rock 'n' Roll and video games cause this kind of behavior. And you'll be believing wrong. These tragedies are not, I repeat, are not caused by violent media. These tragedies are caused by the shooters reaching a breaking point; a breaking point where they stop turning the anger they feel from being bullied inward and direct it back at those who have caused the pain they are now voicing with the sound of gun fire. Most of you will never truly understand what it's like to live four to thirteen years of your life in total hell; a nightmare you never wake up from.

    So after years of being insulted, beaten, and constantly tortured by classmates, parents and teachers alike they finally break. Some of these kids take their own lives, so ruled by their pain that they just can't take it anymore and end their lives hoping to escape. Others however stop turning that pain inward. These are your school shooters; your Columbine, your Chardon High School. So ask yourself, "What kind of lives have these kids lived that could push them to kill their classmates?"

     I know what kind of life these kids had. I lived their lives to an extent. These kids most likely have parents who are too busy to care or just don't give a damn and/or teachers who look the other way or join in with the bullies torturing them. And it's never just one bully that pushes a kid to unload a gun, it's the entire school. These bullied kids don't just blame the bullies, they blame the other students who stand by with indifference as well as the ones who cheer every time the bullies fist lands. They're sick and tired of feeling weak; they want to show everyone just how tough they can be. A select few who don't end their lives or just go on living with it fight back, and these are the kids who tell the world how they feel with every round they squeeze off at their fellow students.

     You're probably asking yourself how I know this for a fact. I know because if I could have gotten my hands on a gun I would have been one of them. From third grade until I quit high school I endured attacks from bullies and teachers alike. If I reported a sucker punch the bully would just say that I called his mom a bitch and I would be the one sent to in-school suspension for starting a fight. If a "kick me" sign was put on my back even one of my teachers would kick me in the ass. I lived through a hell most of you could never imagine. So many times did the idea of killing myself cross my mind, so many times did I carve symbols or words into my own flesh just to feel something other than fear. And I can't tell you how many times I planned out what I would do if I could have gotten my hands on a gun, any gun. But, lucky for both me and those I went to school with I never knew where to get one.

     What? You had no idea that your friendly internet Mr Liberal once thought it would be a good idea to unload a firearm into a crowd? I'm sure you didn't, it's not something I've ever admitted before to people outside of my family. But I didn't do it, I never found a gun and I didn't take my own life. I survived. Sadly others are not as lucky as I was. Sadly, others don't think that there is any other way out of their nightmare.

     So now maybe you have a better understanding of why these school shootings happen. Maybe now you'll understand that bullying is not only lethal for those who kill themselves because bullying, but can also be just as lethal for those perceived to be siding with the bully. If these school shootings and student suicides don't make you think that bullying is a problem that needs to be stopped, then you're part of the problem. Because in most cases, the shooters are victims too.

To The People and School Board of Anoka County Minnesota

Dear Residents of Anoka County Minnesota,

     I just read a very disturbing article from 'Rolling Stone'. So disturbing in fact that I am now morally urged to write to you all as a whole. There are some in your community that have made it their life's mission to "hunt down" and "weed out" the "gay agenda" from your little corner of the country. They claim it's the "Christian" thing to do. Really? The CHRISTian thing to do? Feel free to try and prove me wrong here, but Christ did not come to Earth to give these members of your community a free pass to hate, torture and bully those in the LGBTQ community who happen to share your little corner of the world. Christ did say however not to judge others unless you wish to be judged in the same way (Mathew 7:1). Christ also said that it's better to worry about your own sin than to point out and judge the sin of others (Mathew 7:3). 

     So why is it that some in your community feel they are doing the will of Christ? And why are those of you in the community who know better staying silent? The most vile things that have ever happened in recent history have been in the name of God, and these horrible acts could have been stopped if those who knew in their souls that what was happening was wrong would have stood up instead of cowering down. All it takes for evil to flourish is for good men and women to do nothing. Do not support these actions that have lead so many children in your community to kill themselves with indifference and cowardice. Do what you know is right in your soul and stand up for these children and the rest LGBTQ community in Anoka County. Just do what you honestly know in your heart to be right.

Sincerely,

Mr. Liberal