There are a lot of mean kids there days, as has always been the case. There may have been something about this sad young fellow that invited bullying. I do not excuse it. The article is rather vague.
My Unrequested Speculations:
I’m trying to guess what he was being harrassed about. He was 13 y/o, yes? He has the physique and appearance of an 8 year old boy. He is wearing the clothes a young child would wear. Perhaps he was not well socialized.
Some Home Schooling parents don’t take advantage of the groups and activites available for kids to mix with their peers. Was this a single parent family? We don’t know.
My guess is this kid had never been in anything resembling a fight or an argument where he was expected to respond vs run away from.
I have heard of some folks say they were bullied as children, and they responded with humor every so often.
That would take the ‘permanent sting’ out of shouted insults. Perhaps this poor guy never learned to not take the teasing so deeply.
What EXACTLY was the “bullying”?
It is a too easy slippery slope to demonize and hammer punish eternal school age interactions.
All of my children were bullied.
I raised my children to be kind and respectful. They were good looking and smart, never got into trouble. We pulled them out of public school and sent them to charter school.
For my oldest, the linebacker, the bullying got worse. Because he was so big and strong, he was loathed to hurt someone. He finally fought back and beat the hell out of his bully. We removed him from the charter school and put him back in public school. When we were enrolling him again, a young man with a snarky attitude called out to my son and said, “Hey, TJ, what are you doing here?”
I turned around, sized this kid up, and replied,”He beat a bully so bad the kid was hauled away in ambulance. Any questions?”
There was only one minor incident for my eldest in high school. As soon as it happened, I was in the Assistant Principal’s office with my attorney on speed dial. I made it clear that the next time someone struck my son, I was pressing charges, suing the family, and suing the school.
No more bullying for him.
My middle child has an endocrine disorder. Was bullied for that. Same thing; momma hell-fire and threats of lawsuits.
My youngest, who is autistic, was bullied daily and became suicidal. Moved him to a different school where he is protected as part of a program.
My kids don’t drink, smoke, do drugs, lie, cheat, steal or fool around. I raised them for God’s world, not this one.
That makes them a target.
This boy was in school, according to the article.
We knew schoolkids who were bullied horribly, and their parents finally removed them from school. They were much happier homeschooling.
With that said, homeschooled kids aren't perfect little angels, either. Some bullying will happen anywhere, including homeschool co-ops.