The Bullying Debate Part 1, Page 2

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The issue of bullying is certainly not one of gun ownership. It may be more of an issue of video games that promote and reward violence and anti-social behaviour. However, if we are interested in finding a single source for this social malady it is something that would be very basic to society and human nature.

I can say with a high level of certainty that the cause of the incorrect behaviour is due to the fact that we do not teach, at home or school, the correct behaviour.

-Lance. Glendale, California

I think JB is absolutely right in the “Real Bully?” story to say that parents play a bigger role in the raising of children than most people think. And in saying that, it makes me wonder what sort of household the girl lived in if there is a loaded gun available at her fingertips. And a loaded weapon is even worse when you know that your kid is depressed. Common sense, people.

-Tim. Oshawa, Ontario

I can't believe you people. Where does it say that [this family] had a LOADED weapon in their home? This is Texas, many people have guns, many people hunt. Most all of the families that are hunting families teach their children at a very young age how to use and respect firearms.

-Bobbi. Rockdale, Texas

It sickens me that a child feels so bad about life that they commit suicide.

-James. Topeka, Kansas

God HELP America, not bless it.

-Paulette. Thunder Bay, Ontario

[President] Bush is from Texas. Need I say more?

Name Withheld. Seattle, Washington

FEATURED STORY:

“Paid the highest price a parent can pay”

By Rochelle

Corinne was born on September 30, 1991. She is the youngest of four children and the only girl.

We moved to Texas in 1995. Corinne seemed to blossom under all of the love that my husband’s family gave her, especially her grandma, who fell madly in love with Corinne from day one, as most people did that met her. That all changed when we moved to Rockdale in 2000. She had trouble from the first day. She missed her old school and friends and didn’t feel as if she fit in. I thought that if she played a sport that it would help her to meet people, unfortunately it made things worse. It was Corinne’s first year playing softball and she was placed on a team of girls that had played for a considerable amount of time. They teased her relentlessly about her inability to play, she would cry after every practice. I spoke to the coach about it and it seemed to let up, but they continued to exclude her at practice which followed through to school. Corinne would periodically come home from school crying saying “No one likes me, I hate it here”. I would tell her to try to be nice to one person everyday and soon she would have a friend. It seemed to work, she made a friend and they seemed inseparable. However, that is when the trouble began. Corinne started changing her personality to match her new friend’s. My husband and I thought it was a phase.

Corinne and a girl got into trouble when they were at the girl’s house. Her father and I ended the relationship, so we thought. For some reason this girl had a hold on Corinne that we could not break. Corinne did make other friends, but they all included this girl. This continued with few problems for the next year and half. Corinne was now in the 6th grade and really starting to become a beautiful young girl. Boys were interested in her and vice a versa. I think that is where the bullying began; these girls were not nearly as pretty as Corinne and became jealous. Corinne was also excelling in academics as well. At first they would exclude her, make her cry, then make up. Then they started to tell Corinne she was fat and her hair was frizzy and make fun of her one day then befriend her the next. Corinne was so confused. The next summer Corinne attended a basketball camp and lost some weight, she grew a few inches and was starting to be more confident in her appearance and abilities. This made the viciousness of peer’s comments and jealousy increase. They started a campaign against Corinne after she had been selected from over 500 contestants to sing in a karaoke contest in Waco. Corinne was so happy about it and proud of herself. The kids again started commenting on her appearance adding that she couldn’t sing. On October 6th, 2004, that morning in PE one of the girls slapped her and called her a whore. Then wrote her notes all day telling her that she was fat, ugly, had ratty hair and they wished she was dead and that she should just go home and kill herself. These girls decided that this was the “Theme of the Day” that Corinne should go home and kill herself. I knew my daughter very well; she was a very loving, sensitive person. I can only imagine the hurt and confusion my daughter was feeling that day. These girls were supposed to be her best friends and they wanted her dead. At one point Corinne wrote on her desk in one of her classes, “This school hates me”, over and over again. I have been told that she had her head down and cried all day. Just as Corinne left from school that day, these girls said it again.

School let out early that day for conferences her brothers picked her up as they always did. Corinne asked them to drive by one of these girls so she could say something to her, her brother told her no, they needed to get home. One of her brothers says that she was drawing devil horns on one of her friend’s pictures, and running up and down the stairs from my room the entire afternoon. Later we found out that she had been trying to find a gun. Her brother left for work just before 4 p.m. and I was home by 4:45, where I found her dead from a single gunshot to her forehead. Corinne left no note, which makes me believe she did not want to die, she just wanted a break from the pressure and to show those girls how bad they were hurting her. Her father and I believe that Corinne really thought she would just get hurt and spend some time in the hospital and it would fix it all, which did not happen. Instead of listening to our daughter perform at the rodeo, her father and I buried her.

The pain of losing our daughter is immeasurable. My husband wrote in her eulogy that they say you don’t know what you have until it is gone, but we knew, we knew Corinne was an amazingly beautiful, talented and loving person that made everyday spent with her a better day. Her family has lost everything on October 6th, 2004 and the world has lost more than they will ever know.