In the last year we have a spate of famous suicides by young students. In this question consider the similar cases of two beautiful young girls.
The most heinous case, in my opinion, was that of a girl who while dead in her casket had her school bullies arrive at the funeral, walk up to the open casket in order to there say horrible things about the dead girl and laugh at her! Disgusting behavior! But let not the emotion of disgust stop you from considering why this kind of thing is happening.
The girl so rudely mocked while she lay dead in her casket was one Sladjana Vidovic, 16, born in Croatia immigrated to the US, of Mentor, Ohio, outside East Cleveland. Proximal cause of death: she hung herself. She is said to have been despondent over the bullying. She killed herself just before the prom.
Her sad case is similar to that of Phoebe Prince, 14, born in Ireland immigrated to the US, of South Hadley, Massachusetts. Proximal cause of death: she hung herself (Jan 2010). She is said to have been despondent over the bullying and physical harassment by a posse of the popular girls in her high school who were upset she had dated a popular school football player. She killed herself just before the winter cotillion.
Folks overly focus on the bullying element. Bullying is not the problem. I’m being out of the box to say that, but I am right.
The problem is that modern US public schools, and some private ones are run more like social clubs than educational establishments. Education is NOT the primary focus, instead the public school system is about baby-sitting.
In social clubs, whether recreational clubs, community service clubs, religion affiliated clubs or similar, prisons, political organizations, the US and State Congresses, Japan the nation, etc., it tends to be all about respect for pecking-order and respect for ritual. In a modern US high school the major ritual events are homecoming, cotillions, proms.
If the focus of schools was instead properly disciplined EDUCATION AND LEARNING these suicides and the culture of bullying that was contributory to them would not have occurred.
I suspect it is not a coincidence at all that these two young ladies came from cultures where, afaik, the schools still are EDUCATION focused, and the social club aspects of student life are only minor and secondary or tertiary.
What do you think? What thoughts can you put together coherently to respond? Can you rise above emotionalism and knee-jerk mob reaction to consider a bigger and far more difficult picture?
If we can not the toll of despondent suicides and bullying that induces them will continue.
What do you say?