Op-Ed: High School Bullies - A Situation That Must Be Changed

In the bad old days, high school bullies picked on other kids for a variey of reasons. It was known as right of passage and the kids being picked on were expected to either take it on the chin or to fight back. This sorry situation existed for decades.

Now the worm has turned. The victims of high school bullies are fighting back by bringing lethal weapons to school with them as a form of revenge. From Columbine to the recent events at The Plymouth Whitemarsh High School the question becomes, what do we do about preventing this situation from happening again? During my high school days I was picked on by bullies and while I was sorely tempted to hit those creeps upside their collective heads with my wooden baseball bat, I never went through with it. I considered the whole thing mind over matter; I didn't mind because those losers didn't matter. Today however, the victims of high school bullies, after many years, have finally reached the boiling point, deciding that murdering their tormentors is their only option. But killing another human being should never be an option no matter how badly these kids are being picked on. However it's a situation that is becoming more and more frequent. But what to do? I believe schools must implement classes which stress tolerance for others. It should be taught that no one should be held up to unendurable ridicule because of their weight or the way they dress, or any number of other equally small and petty reasons. The students must be taught that diversity is good and that the other kids don't necessarily have to be exactly like them. Tolerance. Acceptance. Words that can be found in the Bible. Bullying has to be stopped dead in it's tracks because times have changed and not for the better. The tormented are now swiftly turning into the tormentors and it's now the bullies who have to look over their shoulder. How many more incidents like Columbine have to occur before we finally do something about it?