1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Nine-year old apparently commits suicide at school

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Bad Guy Zero, Jan 22, 2010.

  1. Iron_chet

    Iron_chet Well-Known Member

    As a parent I have to decide what is right. I am sure that there will be a lot of things that I do that will leave my kids mortified/embarassed/questioning my judgement.

    That being said I have a lot more experience than they will have in life and I will take the chance that they do not approve.
     
  2. YGBFKM

    YGBFKM Guest

    Fair enough. I just know that sometimes what a parent will do instinctually ends up backfiring. But your points about judgment and experience are well taken.
     
  3. Smallpotatoes

    Smallpotatoes Well-Known Member

    Being a fat kid when childhood obesity wasn't the epidemic it is today, I was bullied a lot when I was in elementary school. One incident in particular was one of the defining moments in my life.
    It was the first day of fourth grade and when you got to fourth grade you were allowed to ride your bike to school. On the way home three kids (one was actually my brother) were picking on me and ran me off the road, breaking my bike.
    I defended myself, going after the weakest one (not my brother). I pinned him to the ground and went straight for his throat. I choked him and kept choking him. Eventually, a woman who lived across the street broke it up and thought I was at fault, that I attacked the kid unprovoked, which was a lie. She called me a vicious killer. I tried to tell her that I didn't start it, that I was just protecting myself, and she wouldn't listen. She's probably dead now and I still resent her for thinking I attacked the kid unprovoked. The fact that all she saw was me choking the kid didn't give her the right to think that.
    The next day, I was called into the principal's office. I told him what happened and nothing else came of it. I still resent that woman. Why would she think I just choked a kid for no reason?
    Later in life, there have been times when maybe I should have stood up for myself more that I haven't, maybe because of that incident.
     
  4. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    It's like in sports, where the first blow isn't seen by the referee, but he catches the retaliation and penalizes the second guy.

    She probably didn't see you get run off the road. All she saw was you choking the other kid.
     
  5. Smallpotatoes

    Smallpotatoes Well-Known Member

    Doesn't make it right.
     
  6. Herbert Anchovy

    Herbert Anchovy Active Member

    There was a kid who made my life unpleasant for about a month, because this is how it goes for 9-year-old boys but mostly because I had the misfortune of wearing a really dreary school uniform home from the bus stop every day that all but invited regular asskickings. After taking my lumps I decided I'd been sufficiently punished. The aggressor just so happened to have a bad case of sun-poisoning on his nose when he was delivered his frontier justice. So his face was rubbed into the grass until it was strawberry-colored. I'd never told my parents about it and we got a visit from that kid's father that night. Same deal. I was framed as the bully.
     
  7. chilidog75

    chilidog75 Member

    Give me a fuckin break.
     
  8. Smallpotatoes

    Smallpotatoes Well-Known Member

    http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1227606

    Here's another one, a 15-year-old girl.
     
  9. fishhack2009

    fishhack2009 Active Member

    Damn.
     
  10. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    My 12-year-old son is in Grade 7. He's meek and mild and a bit socially awkward, just like his dad was at that age. And he gets picked on sometimes, like I did. He goes to the same school I attended, and they do little or nothing to protect kids from bullies. Some things never change.

    My 10-year-old son, who's in Grade 5 at the same school, is brash and walks with a swagger and takes no shit from anyone, be they kids his age, older kids, teachers, administrators. He doesn't bully anyone and he doesn't necessarily start anything, but he loves to fight. And he's very good at it. No other kid in the school, which goes up to Grade 8, wants any part of him when the chips are down.

    So when the 12-year-old has a problem with a bully, the 10-year-old solves it for him. Gleefully, almost. It's a nice feeling, to know that my middle son has a protector who can and will deal with bullies in the only way bullies understand.

    It's also nice to know that, in a school where I sometimes feared for my well-being, my youngest son now pretty much runs the place. :)
     
  11. Mystery Meat II

    Mystery Meat II Well-Known Member

    THAT'S MY PURSE! I DON'T KNOW YOU!
    [​IMG]
     
  12. Rosie

    Rosie Active Member

    Want to know why school districts don't do more to combat bullying?

    Lawsuits. I was more or less told this after an incident involving my football player when he was in grade school.

    It was Friday night, and I was in the press box covering a football game. We were all at the game because it was my kids' school (remember, small community and one-woman sports department.) With about two minutes left in the game, Rosebud came running into the pressbox, sobbing, telling me that BullyKid was beating up the future Football Player, really bad.

    I had been chatting throughout the game with a player from the other team who was benched due to a broken leg. He asked if I needed help as I flew down the stairs and I remember shouting, "just watch my stuff."

    By the time I got over to where the incident happened, BullyKid was gone, and my son stood there with blood all over his face and jacket. Because it was grade school kids, the high school authorities decided they couldn't get involved and the grade school at one point told me that the mom of BullyKid said it happened because his meds had changed and I was told the district would open itself up to a lawsuit if they weren't careful.

    I replied that there could be a lawsuit for failing to have a safe environment for my child.

    The kid wound up suspended for a day or two if I remember correctly. He's been in and out of trouble - some serious - ever since, while Football Player is finishing up his Eagle Scout work today. (Not that Football Player is an angel, but...)

    I really think a lot of this bullying thing falls back on the parents and the limits they set for their children. I see this when going through the police and court reports. Too much of the same families - generations.

    Oh, and the player with the broken leg? When I came back to gather my stuff, he asked about my son and what happened. I told him and he looked at me, smiled and said, "Well, I could go beat him up. I'm not 18 yet, so I wouldn't get in too much trouble."

    Always had a soft spot for that team ever since. :)
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page