[Laura26060]

The amount of scapegoating that goes unchecked in our public school system is criminal. I am so sick of listening to schools blame parents, the media, bad kids, anything but their own lack of responsibility toward their students. I am an educator, and of course my students were quite upset by the Columbine massacre. But none were surprised. Virtually every one of my students related incidents from high school where they were tormented and teachers did nothing to stop it. And indeed, in some cases, the teachers abetted it. The response was uniformly, "That's life, get over it."

That kind of behavior, name-calling, verbal and sometimes physical abuse, and worse, wouldn't be tolerated by the teachers for one second if it were their colleagues tormenting them. Someone would be fired or possibly arrested. Why then is this seen as acceptable behavior by teachers if it's done to a student by a student, or at least something they don't feel compelled to stop? And then they wonder why the scapegoated students don't go to the guidance office for counseling.

The very serious problems of those Columbine students were exacerbated by a national school system that sits passively on its hands and allows the kind of mental torture that adults wouldn't put up with for a nanosecond. If schools want to be safe, they have to create a safe environment for all students, and that means even the nerds, the goths, the D students and the geeks, not just the students they can brag about to the Board of Education.

Harris and Klebold were responsible for their actions, make no mistake. But the school system bears responsibility for creating an atmosphere that allows that kind of rage to fester and turn homicidal. Saying, and meaning, "Harrassment will not be tolerated," doesn't cost a dime, and it may save lives.

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Name : Laura26060, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 37, City : Bel Air, State : MD Country : United States, Occupation : College English teacher, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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