Could This Have been Your Child?
This past Friday, in a suburb of Florida, a 15-year old who had been bullied by fellow classmates, brought a gun with him to school. Although the gun was not real, the teenager wanted to fight back and show those who tormented him, that he wasn't going to be bullied any longer, by anyone. Did his parents know what was going on at school? Had the teenager become emotionally withdrawn from family activites? Did the parents feel that he was just going through a "normal" period in his life that all teens experience at that age? I'm not placing blame on the parents. If you have not read the blogs I posted the last couple of days, and if your a parent, I suggest you read them carefully. And yes, by all means print them off and put them somplace where you can review them.
We all saw the pictures on national television as the events unfolded of this unfortunate tragedy. Intially, as I watched, I assumed, as many of us did, that this boy brought a gun to school with the intent of harming other children and teachers. I didn't think much about it until reports surfaced that he was a victim of bullying. We all want to be loved and accepted, that's human nature. We bring children into the world with all the love we have to give. And sometimes, because our world is cruel, the love of a parent, is not enough to sustain all the hurt others may do to our kids when we are not there to protect them 24 hours a day.
Don't just talk to your kids, listen. Spend quality time with them minus the cell phone or other distractions.
If there is some good to come of this, the parents of this teenager have donated their sons organs, so that others may live.
Susan Murphy Milano www.movingoutmovingon.com
