At Jersey Shore, she had stones thrown at her, she was chased. Teasing, name-calling, and bullying have long been synonymous with adolescence, but the possible consequences of a schoolwide culture of casual cruelty have never been as deadly as they are today. From Jonesboro, Ark., to Santee, Calif., teenagers allegedly abused by classmates have been fighting back with bullets. In the bloodiest of those vengeful rampages, two teenagers in Jefferson County, Colo., killed 12 of their classmates and a teacher before taking their own lives in April of 1999. My only concern here is that bullies are defined as extreme cases of kids who taunt others, pick on those weaker.
Young people seem to agree.
In a nationwide survey of nearly 70,000 students in grades 6-12, only 37 percent of the respondents said students showed respect for one another. Fewer than half considered themselves positive role models for other students. I think we're worse off now than we were in the 1950s with the race issues. We've got 'people' issues now. Angry Young Men Elizabeth Bush of Bishop Neumann High, who according to her lawyer was ridiculed for her strong religious beliefs and her tendency to befriend other ostracized teenagers, is a rarity among the school shooters who have grabbed headlines in recent years.