Who Says Names Can Never Harm? (Liberal Nonsense Alert!)

NY Newsday ^ | July 14, 2003 | Trish Boppert

[presidio9]

Childhood is its own country, and for some it's a brutal place to live.

At 18, Matthew Lovett of Oaklyn, N.J., is described in news accounts as a peculiar loner, a tall, stooped kid who stood out because he didn't dress or act like his peers and hung out solely with younger kids.

Obsessed with certain movies and computer games, Matthew reportedly tried to protect his younger brother, James - born with a disfiguring cleft palate and retaining a speech impediment after multiple corrective surgeries - from the teasing and humiliation his physical condition invited. He's described by former high school classmates as "an outcast," given to odd behavior.

He and James, say many, had been ridiculed and taunted by their peers for years. Reportedly, Matthew carried a baseball bat in an attempt, say some, to ward off the torment the brothers endured.

[dead]

It's way past time to admit that words can wound as grievously and scar as permanently as bullets.

No they can’t.

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[Semper Paratus]

Reminds me of childhood joke.

There was this boy who had one wooden eye and was made fun of and became very shy around girls.
A friend persuaded him to attend his first dance.
There was this girl there who was attractive except for a hair-lip.
He thought she won't be turned off by my wooden eye and he went up to her and asked if she wanted to dance.
She replied "Would I, Would I!
He said: Hair-lip, Hair-lip!

[CCCV]

"It's way past time to admit that words can wound as grievously and scar as permanently as bullets. "

If that's true than we sure wasted a lot of money in Afganastan & Iraq with all of those tanks and stuff. We could have just sent a couple of hundred yellers with megaphones and insulted them to death!

[netmilsmom]

My question is Where are the parents??
If my kids were being harrassed at school, I would homeschool.
Parents should always make sure that the kids have a good base to have friends. Get them involved with church or other activities. Pay attention to them and see what they need.
From someone who was abused by schoolmates, if I had not had friends at my church who let me know I was ok, I may have been crazier than I am. And always, I knew my parents were there and loved me so much. Mom was home and paid attention to me. It was a safe haven. When mom and dad were in the same house, were they there for these kids??

[Puppage]

Childhood is its own country, and for some it's a brutal place to live.

SAVES US GOVERNMENT...SAVE US!

[CCCV]

"police coaxed the heavily armed boys into giving up their cache of weapons and ammunition "</font color="#????FF"> Uh-Oh The deadly "cache of weapons'

[Puppage]

[CCCV]

"police coaxed the heavily armed boys into giving up their cache of weapons and ammunition " Uh-Oh The deadly "cache of weapons' ** Bear with me please- trying my have at this HTLM stuff...

[CCCV]

" "police coaxed the heavily armed boys into giving up their cache of weapons and ammunition " Uh-Oh The deadly "cache of weapons' ** Bear with me please- trying my have at this HTLM stuff...

[mamarainsberry]

What parents? That is the question from the word GO. How could the parents in the Columbine shootings not know the kids were building pipe bombs? The parents are self centered schmucks who think only of themselves and are only vaguely aware of what their children are doing. Get involved in your children's school and life. KNOW their friends and their friends parents, Volunteer, work in the classroom, walk the halls. It will scare you to death!

[Arthur McGowan]

There are two kinds of "conservatives" who post on FR who make me want to VOMIT: Those who think that it's "liberal" to oppose prison rape, and those who think that it's "liberal" to believe that relentless teasing is bad for kids.

Teasing in school is EVIL, and I have trouble getting exercised when a teasing victim kills his tormentors. Millions of people have been emotionally crippled for life by the cruelty of other people's little monsters.

Schools are evil.

[presidio9]

"Conservatives" who embrace liberal philosophy make me want to VOMIT. EVERYBODY gets teased at some point in his or her life. Nobody likes it. It is a parent's job to find out what is going on in his kids' lives. If there is something making him or her unhappy, it is a parent's job to work through the problem. It is not society's job, and "relentless teasing" will never be sufficient justification to errupt on homicidal rampages. The Columbine parents should be in jail right now.

[Arthur McGowan]

If you had bothered to read my post you might have noticed that I didn't call for "society" or some liberal program to deal with the evil of teasing. I called (implicitly) for the abolition of schools.

[presidio9]

I called (implicitly) for the abolition of schools.

Great idea. Pay no attention to the man behind you with the butterfly net...

[ffusco]

I went to public schools from 1974 -1987 and It was practically "Lord of the Flies" then.

[Coleus]

What parents? That is the question from the word GO. How could the parents in the Columbine shootings not know the kids were building pipe bombs? The parents are self centered schmucks who think only of themselves and are only vaguely aware of what their children are doing. Get involved in your children's school and life. KNOW their friends and their friends parents, Volunteer, work in the classroom, walk the halls. It will scare you to death!>>>


Ditto...or just homeschool them.

[Coleus]

Teasing in school is EVIL>>>

That's one of the reasons why I don't believe in this repressed memory crap people and liars/lawyers use when they sue the church as sex abuse victims. Things like that you Never forget. I've seen people, I think on talk shows, who were teased in school and NEVER forgot. They approached their tormentors on the show.

[Arthur McGowan]

My first reaction, when I hear a news item about the shooting of some monsters who have been teasing a classmate, is "good." I'm only sorry that the shooter has ruined his life.