Shocked and Appalled!

Last night I heard on the news that a 15 year old boy in the United States has burns to 65% of his body after he was doused with rubbing alcohol and set on fire by 5 of his classmates in a bullying incident. Apparently the whole ordeal started because the boy, Michael Brewer, owed one of the boys $40 for a video game. When Michael didn’t pay, the boy tried to steal a bicycle that belonged to Michael’s father. Michael called the police on him and that’s when the other boy wanted revenge.

I was sickened, shocked and outraged by this news! I don’t understand how someone could light someone else on fire. And over $40 dollars‼

I just don’t understand but it scares me to think about how bullying has increased to such extremes. As a beginning teacher I wonder what I’ll be faced with in my school. I believe that students should feel safe when they come to school and that schools and classrooms should be free from any form of bullying whether physical, verbal, or emotional. I will not tolerate any form of bullying in my classroom and will strive to help the students understand what bullying is and what they can do to prevent it.

In my PS1 practicum, there was an anti-bullying lady that came around and spoke to all the classes about forms of bullying and what they could do if they saw bullying happening in the school or on the playground. I thought it was a great way to introduce the topic to younger children and try to stop any bullying before it starts. The students had a number of questions after the lady left and it opened up into a great discussion. I think these types of discussions need to continue as the students move through the grades. Isn’t there a big anti-bullying movement occurring throughout North America? Or maybe it’s mostly in Canada. But there are lots of great anti-bullying things out there, we just need to make sure it gets to the schools. Trista wrote a great blog on bullying and has a number of great websites at the end of her post that could be useful for teachers looking for information.

We need to stop the violence and bullying now before another child becomes the victim of violence!