“When I was a teenager, I got a gun. My parents didn't have them lying
around the house. I bought it for $25 on the street. I had it in my pants
at a movie theater when I saw one of my regular tormentors... [He] wasn't
in the mood to confront me that night. If he had I was going to lure him
into the alley beside the theater with the promise of a fight. Then I was
going to shoot him.” — Michael Honohan.
The courage expressed by Michael Honohan in his essay, “Shootings will
continue until bullies are corralled” is impressive. He wrote this revealing
piece about a desperate time in his life in response to recent school shootings
in San Diego, California.
Like many students in America, Honohan had been bullied and picked on
by the in-crowd at school. As a 157 centimetre tall sophomore he was easy
prey for the big marauding jocks, one of whom fractured his clavicle during
a fit of rage.
For the purpose of this essay I would like to point out that Honohan
could just as easily have been harassed for being tall, overweight, black,
brown, female, physically challenged, homosexual, or any of a host of other
characteristics rejected by in-crowds and their bullies.
His experience of being hung on a coat rack by a group of jocks saddened
me, and I found myself pondering how mockery is allowed to flourish in
so many aspects of American life. Comics are paid millions to do it. It
has become an accepted practice, so much so that late night television
talk show hosts actually make a good living doing little more than insulting
others for fun and profit.
Young people pay attention to adult hypocrisy. That is to say, when
adults pretend to be opposed to the intolerance and harassment carried
out in schools as bullying and teasing but then practice it themselves
in front of their children at home via long lists of personal prejudices
and all the nonsensical intolerances that accompany them, young people
see such grown-up hypocrisy quite clearly.
Unfortunately, there are teachers and coaches who see bullying at school
every day who say nothing. Conversely, there are those who do speak up
to correct the intimidator. The bully goes home and the next thing you
know an irate parent is calling the principal, complaining that the teacher
has harassed their son or daughter by singling him or her out. We should
not be surprised that shortly thereafter, out of fear of losing their jobs
among other things, many educators lose the determination required to correct
student behaviour.
What amazes me is that immediately after each new school shooting rampage
every manner of media routinely ask “Why?”. The root of the problem is
as plain as day, yet they seem to think that the answer to that question
is somehow hidden from intelligent view. It is no secret that the attitudes
and behaviours of children are shaped by and based upon those of adults.
What is being modelled to young people today? To be devoid of compassion
and to be intolerant of others has become very popular in America.
The day after Honohan's essay appeared, a letter writer, Jorge Salcedo,
replied: “Just take a look around — adults respond to traffic infractions
with Road Rage, enraged parents attack Little League umpires when there's
a `bad call', and children are allowed to watch bloody wrestling shows
disguised as entertainment... Take a look in the mirror; that's where your
kids learn how to act.”
While I am inclined to agree with Salcedo, I think that he does not
take his point far enough. In a societal sense, the problem here in America
goes a good deal deeper. The popularity of intolerance and lack of compassion
that drives bullies also intimidates the in-crowd so that they, too, come
to view as broken beyond repair those who bullies consider “defective”.
Where is the compassion in a state that hands down a sentence of death
or life without parole? Where is the tolerance in rejecting asylum-seeking
immigrants who are clearly fleeing from violent persecutions? Where is
the humanity in blocking equal access to the so-called “American dream”?
Alas, it does not matter whether the bully is in the school house, State
House, White House or your house, that person is still a bully. Change
is long overdue.
BY BRANDON ASTOR JONES
[The writer is a prisoner on death row in the United States. He welcomes
letters commenting on his columns (include your name and full return address
on the envelope, or prison authorities may refuse to deliver it). He can
be written to at: Brandon Astor Jones, EF-122216, G3-77, Georgia Diagnostic
& Classification Prison, PO Box 3877, Jackson, GA 30233, USA, or email
<brandonastorjones@hotmail.com>.
Jones is seeking a publisher for his collected prison writings.
Please notify him of any possible leads. Visit Jones' web page at <http://www.brandonastorjones.com>.]
