The Millennium Gooch
If you were a fan of Different Strokes in the 80’s you might remember The Gooch. He was the bully that tormented Arnold and other kids on the playground. In the Flava In Ya Ear remix, Notorious B.I.G. referred to him as an “invisible bully”, because we never actually saw him on screen. The Gooch kept Arnold “shook”, and many of us could probably relate to him back then because there was a similar bully on our own playgrounds. We grew up in a different time, and the bully situation was nothing compared to how it goes down on playgrounds today. Not that there is ever an excuse to be bullied, but back then kids weren’t hanging themselves with belts because they were tired of being teased and beat up!
Last week an eleven-year-old boy, Jaheem Herrera, hanged himself because he was tired of being the victim of school bullies. Can you imagine the horror he must have dealt with on a daily basis at the hands of his peers. How bad must it be if an eleven-year-old boy is forced to take his own life to escape the foolishness?
Of course when I first saw this new story I wanted to know where were the teachers and where were the administrators. I don’t have children but I know if I had even the smallest inkling that my child was being bullied I would be up in that school turning it out IMMEDIATELY!!!!! According to the news reports, Jaheem had reported the bullying to his teacher but nothing was done. His mom and sister were aware of some of the issues, but had no idea how bad the situation had gotten. There is nothing you can tell me that would make me believe the schools administrators didn’t know exactly what was going on. I’m sure they have a disciplinary file six inches thick on each of little Jaheem’s tormentors, but never did the appropriate follow though that might have saved Jaheem’s life. I am not blaming the teachers per say, but how can a little boy get picked on daily and not one teacher be aware of it.
We all tell our children to come to us with any and everything, and we hope that they will tell us or another adult when they are in trouble or being threatened. Is that enough? When I was in school we walked or caught the city bus, so you could avoid a bully if you had to. In Atlanta most kids take the school bus, so I’m sure the bully action starts popping before they even reach school property and continues until they get home at night.
Some men think being bullied is a right of passage, and tell their sons not to be punks. Maybe in the 70’s and 80’s that logic might float, but kids are killing each other over sneakers and silly glances so I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s not being a punk when you’re trying to save a life. On the flip side, what kinds of parents raise a bully? How does your child going from sharing his snack to giving smaller kids the smack down? What is the next step after playground bully, campus rapist? Who do we blame: the bully that picks on kids, the parents of the bully, or the teachers that allow bullies to stay in school? Who should be ultimately responsible for the bully situation in our schools?
JerzeeChick
