Another thought. All through high school, I had a 22 rifle in my bedroom closet. The thought of taking it to school never crossed my mind. We used fists back then, win or lose. No knives, no guns; just one on one and done. I'll agree things are different now. Violent video games, liberals took God out of school, liberals have OK'd the murder of children in the womb to protect a woman's "rights". The Feds, the shrinks, the medical industry, and the teachers have OK'd our children to be dependent on "legal" drugs to keep them in "line". You can't blame Newtown on my guns either! Afraid it will get worse before it gets better. The VP? Really? That goof ball isn't going to fix anything.

LSSLSM; Reminds me of an incident I had in high school. Fire drill; Ernie H., one of those we called a "hood" back in the '60's, was behind me going back in. He started slapping the back of my head. I spun around, wrapped both hands around his throat, screamed, threw him to the ground, and sat on top of him banging his head against the ground and at the same time, trying to choke the life out of him. It took two male teachers to pull me off him. Principal's office was next stop. Both of us suspended for 3 days. I went to Dad' recruiting office, What the H are you doing out of school! I explained. He marched me right back to school, asked to see the principal, gave him a great verbal what for, and I went back to class. Ernie was my "friend" after that, along with his other hood buddies. If I came home with a black eye or a bloody nose, my father expected the other one to look the same or worse. I was lucky to have a father like that; many do not have that luxury now days. This is America; regardless of how young or old we are, we have the right to defend ourselves; whether it be in school, or at the mall, or anywhere else. Screw the schools and their idiotic "rules" against defending yourself.

firegem - you are so right on. All through grade school my children reported bullies to their teachers as we instructed them to do, and were given the same reply: "Don't be a tattle-tell - go away." I am sure this was a required response all teachers were trained to give because it never failed this was their blanket response. My son cleaned a few clocks (daughter had to too) and low and behold we were called to the school and threatened with his suspension. OUR blanket response was: "If you (principle) will not do your job, then our children will NOT be punching bags for other kids, and they have been given the go ahead to use whatever means to defend themselves." I even wrote AND emailed (with read receipt) Pulaski Co. - did not even get one reply. Makes me laugh - one time in high school son had enough taunting from a kid and took care of it in the bathroom. Guess the little hood rat got embarrassed he got took down, and had all his buddies skip the bus after school and ambushed my son. Son had (same) kid in a head lock choke hold, hoodie screaming and scratching like a woman for his life. Other hoodies ran off when popo were called to the school. Took 2 cops to pull my son off the little rat. Assistant principle (probably ALSO result of hood) screamed (and I mean really screamed) bloody murder that my son get suspended with other kid. Two weeks later, little hoodie dropped a herb package from his pocket in the school hallway in front of assistant principle and other teachers!

I think a good anti-bullying program would be to "shame" them. If they're caught bullying, then make them stand in the middle of the school gym with a sign that says "I'm a bully b/c I'm not happy with myself" and invite all the students to come in and stare at and boo him for a good 20-30 minutes. We need more "shaming" when it comes to juveniles, especially bullies. Quit throwing them into the court system where they learn to be hardened criminals. And if the parents of the bully do not like that then they can just take their bully child out of the school district and home school the bratt

firegem - you are RIGHT ON POINT! Thank you for reminding me of that. I have asked my grandson why the child being bullied didn't tell the teacher and his response was: The teachers don't care. The teachers tell the kid being bullied to go back and play - the child gets yelled at in front of playmates for telling the only authority around what's going on - the teachers say, "I didn't see it." WTH? This must change - we need teachers to give a damn.

As long as children are punished for standing up to the bully,bullying will continue to grow.

Gun control, gun control, gun control. Why do we need to do anything about the gun control, when the government refuses to do anything about the criminals? I am tired of people crying about gun this and gun that. Outlaw guns, take them all away except for military and police. You know what will happen? People will find other ways to kill people, rob them, do them harm or whatever the case be. Gun control isnt the answer, the answer is fix the justice system where criminals can be properly punished, victims can actually feel like justice was served. Do something to keep those off of the streets that refuse to get a job, earn their keep and live promising lives. If something was done about that, then gun control wouldnt be an issue.

so we can do something about bullying but can not seem to come to terms with the gun control issue because it is too complex ... something is wrong with this picture

I agree on a home training problem. To many one parent homes. Fathers not present in most of those. Makes for little man training. Boys need that.

I feel blessed that my son's school seems to actually care about bullying. My son came home telling me of a kid in his class that was bullying him. I sent one email that ended up being forwarded to the principal and the school therapist. Both children were called in and things were handled. I wish it turned out so well for all the bullied children. I also agree 100% that a lot of bullying is learned at home. I cannot believe the way I see some adults treat other adults and children as well!