Archive for the 'The Myth' Category

2 years later and Socastee shooter’s parents still blame bullying

Published on October 30, 2012 by Trench Reynolds in School Violence, Socastee High School and The Myth. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Christian Helms

Parents say bullying pushed Christian Helms to the edge:

Two years ago a then 14-year-old Christian Helms walked into Socastee High School in South Carolina with a gun and some pipe bombs. A shot was fired in an ensuing scuffle with the school’s resource officer Erik Karney. Luckily neither Karney nor anyone else was struck by the bullet before Helms was subdued. Helms was tried as an adult and was sentenced to six years after entering an Alford plea.

Now this article comes out in the local media where some reporter once again tries to shove the bullying myth down our throat. As an aside when I say bullying myth I don’t mean that bullying is a myth. No one knows its reality better than me. I suffered concussions, a separated shoulder and broken bones in my youth due to bullying. What I mean by the bullying myth is that Helms and other shooters were driven to their crime by bullying.

Back to the matter at hand. In this article Helms parents squarely place the blame on bullying for Helms’ actions and again I have to ask oh really? So it had nothing to do with his obsession with guns and bombs? Or nothing to do with his Columbine obsession? Let’s also not forget that while in juvie lock up Helms was trying to collect press clippings about himself. Other reports also state that Helms had lots of friends and was well liked. And what about the fact that one of the kids on Helms’ hit list had a cleft palate and was probably more bullied in one day than Helms was his whole life.

This had nothing to do with bullying. This is a media inspired lie that Helms parents are telling themselves so they don’t feel responsible.

Steven Weber perpetuates the myth

Published on June 21, 2011 by Trench Reynolds in Politics and The Myth. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

Steven Weber

Weiners and Losers:

You remember Steven Weber don’t you? He played the screw up brother on the TV show “Wings” and was in the horrible made for TV remake of “The Shining”. Basically on the relevance scale he ranks somewhere between Gallagher and Emilio Esteves.

Since the Huffington Post will allow any ‘celebrity’ to rant there Weber takes the media to task for descending on disgraced US Rep. Anthony Weiner like a pack of rabid badgers. In his admonishing of the media Weber uses a falsehood to try to get his point across…

The fact that Weiner was one of the left’s most effective warrior’s against the legitimately vile purveyors of rightwing horseshit is now seemingly forever lost in the bloodlust that defines our cultural landscape; the prevailing analyses have more in common with base schoolyard taunts that bred a Dylan Klebold than with straight journalism.

I find two things wrong with Mr. Weber’s admonishment is that not only does he falsely assume that bullying caused Columbine but I have to ask where Mr. Weber’s criticism of the media was when right-wing politicians like Mark Sanford and Larry Craig were being raked across the media coals? I wouldn’t doubt that Mr. Weber was relishing in that but now that it’s one of his guys he thinks the media needs to lay off.

Please critique the media Mr. Weber as they often deserve it but at least be non-partisan about it and please do better research on Columbine before making the same mistakes that the media you’re criticizing makes.

The Red Lake bullying myth

Published on May 17, 2011 by Trench Reynolds in Red Lake and The Myth. 0 Comments

In this editorial by Tom Weber of Minnesota Public Radio Mr. Weber decries the lack of teeth of Minnesota’s anti-bullying law. I’ll give him no grief for that however like a lot of journalists Mr. Weber makes somewhat of a false statement. Since it’s Minnesota instead of citing Columbine Mr. Weber cites Red Lake instead…

Then on March 21, 2005, 16-year old Jeffrey Weise killed nine people — including seven at Red Lake High School — in a shooting rampage before killing himself. In the aftermath, authorities looked into reports that Weise had endured bullying and taunts from other students because of his “goth” look and black clothes.

Mr. Weber is actually smart by playing fast and loose with his language. In his quote he says that authorities looked into claims of bullying. It reads like that it’s inferred that Weise was bullied. However by my recollection, just like the Columbine cowards, Jeff Weise was not bullied but was the bully himself. There are accounts that people reached out to Weise but every hand extended to him was slapped away.

Again I bullying is and has been a scourge in our schools however if you use statements that aren’t true to support your point of view you’re doing a disservice to those that you’re trying to help.

The Columbine bullying myth in Press Publications

Published on March 4, 2011 by Trench Reynolds in The Myth. 0 Comments

This is an editorial from Press Publications Managing Editor Michelle Miron about bullying. While of course I agree with her anti-bullying stance Ms. Miron is guilty of spreading the myth that bullying caused the murders at Columbine.

• Bullying is increasingly viewed as an important contributor to youth violence, including homicide and suicide. Case studies of the shooting at Columbine High School and other U.S. schools suggest that bullying was a factor in many of the incidents.

First off bullying was not a factor at Columbine and I’d like to see the case study that said it did. Secondly while some school shooters have claimed bullying most were the bullies themselves.

And again I’m not saying bullying is a good thing however mass murder is not the way to solve it as some of these kids may think. It takes the focus off of bullying and puts the spotlight on trying to figure out who the next shooter is going to be.

The Columbine bullying myth on hutchnews.com

Published on November 8, 2010 by Trench Reynolds in The Myth. 0 Comments

HutchNews.com is the website for the Hutchinson, Kansas newspaper.In this editorial about bullying legislation in Kansas once again they say that Columbine was caused by bullying.

It is easy to attribute the tragedy at Columbine High School to a couple of troubled kids, who played violent video games, listened to influential music and acted unspeakably. We found out shortly after the 1999 massacre, which injured 24 and left 15 dead, that the two shooters were subjected to bullying throughout their high school careers.

By now you should  know that is incorrect but what really surprised me was that one of the commenters on the article called the article to task for promulgating  the myth. This was from a commenter named Wally.

Bullying is a constant problem in every aspect of our lives, this not only includes school but places of employment, sporting events etc.

But the premise that Columbine was a result of bullying is false! Read Dave Cullen’s book Columbine and you will have to agree that Columbine was a result of a psychopath.

It seems that I’m not the only person out there dispelling this myth and it seems that both of us are also fans of Dave Cullen who I’ve referred to in the past as the ultimate Columbine mythbuster.

The Columbine bullying myth in The Week

Published on November 7, 2010 by Trench Reynolds in The Myth. 1 Comment

I’ve never heard of The Week. From what I can gather by doing no research whatsoever they are some kind of news and opinion magazine. Again like so many other news media outlets they may want to get some better fact checkers.

In this article or blog post they discuss the number of bullying stories in the news lately but once again the old mistaken chestnut is brought up.

Not since the Columbine massacre a decade ago, itself perpetrated by two bullied teens, has the topic been so much in the news.

If they had just removed the part where the Columbine massacre was perpetrated by two bullied teens that sentence would have been correct. It was a lot in the news back then. Now in this day of instant information we know that is not true. However some so called journalists keep poisoning the information stream by claiming it as fact.

The Columbine bullying myth in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Published on October 31, 2010 by Trench Reynolds in The Myth. 0 Comments

In this blog post from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer a grandfather tells the tale of how he stepped in on his granddaughter’s behalf to put a stop to her being bullied.

He handled it with class and reason and the school was able to do something about it so I have to commend him for that. In his blog post the gentleman also mentions a point that I’ve been saying for years. If schools truly wanted to do something about bullying they would stop worrying about being sued and actually punish the bullies.

However the author of the post trots out not only Columbine but other school shootings as well as being caused by bullying.

We live in an age in which doing things like picking on a child who’s perceived to be vulnerable or “different” carries Major Life Consequences. The classmates of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold regarded them as two harmless, outcast losers who didn’t matter…until they became everyone’s worst nightmare. This is the baffling part of the current tsunami of school bullying: Are our children actually stupid or do they simply have an insanely short attention span? Columbine was in 1999, so many of today’s teens and grade-school kids were in diapers or not even born. But, since Columbine, one hundred and twenty-four American students and teachers have died in gun-related incidents in public schools. The names are not as familiar as Columbine – except for Virginia Tech – but thousands of people were battered by the shock waves of these events in places like Grundy, Virginia; Red Lion, Pennsylvania; Cold Spring, Minnesota; Florham Park, New Jersey; Red Lake, Minnesota; and Dekalb, Illinois.

First off again there is no definitive proof that the Columbine scumbags Harris and Klebold were bullied. However there is definitive proof that they were in fact the bullies themselves. Not only that but they weren’t the loner outcasts as so many people make them out to be. They were actually popular and had a large circle of friends. Not to mention bullying was never mentioned in any of the journals of the killers that have been released publicly.

He also mentions some locations that I am familiar with where bullying also did not place. At Red Lake there was no evidence that Jeff Weise was bullied. As a matter of fact people did try to befriend him but Weise was such an anti-social jerk that it was hard for people to befriend him. In Cold Spring, Minn. was the shooting at Rocori High school. In that case it was never proven that the shooter John Jason McLaughlin was bullied. Not to mention that his victims, Aaron Rollins and Seth Bartell, weren’t even his alleged bullies. And in Virginia Tech Cho Seung Hui was not bullied but was just jealous of people that were more successful than him.

My point is that bullying and school shootings should not always be mentioned in the same breath. It plants the seeds in kids’ heads who are being bullied that mass murder is an acceptable solution their problems.

The Star Ledger perpetuates the myth

Published on October 29, 2010 by Trench Reynolds in The Myth. 0 Comments

Again another media outlet is perpetuating the myth that the cowardly Columbine killers lashed out at the school because they were bullied.

In this editorial from the Newark Star Ledger they talk about something called The Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights. Knowing New Jersey like I do it’s probably some overblown piece of legislation that will cause more problems than it intends to solve but I digress.

This is how the Star Ledger perpetuates the myth…

The Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights is society’s strongest message yet that schools are expected to pay close attention to the social relationships of students, an idea that took hold after the 1999 Columbine shootings.

Again, emphasis mine.

Much like TIME Magazine did the star Ledger seems like it knows that it is a myth yet threw it in there anyway to make the false connection.

Not that I’m a fan of bullying but as I’ve said before it’s hard to take any argument seriously when it’s based on a false premise.

TIME Magazine hedges on The Myth

Published on October 24, 2010 by Trench Reynolds in The Myth. 0 Comments

If you are familiar with me at all you know that I don’t believe that bullying caused the Columbine massacre. I have yet to see any evidence to my liking that the cowardly scumbags Harris and Klebold were ever bullied. You’ll also know that I take offense to any media outlet that claims that as fact.

TIME Magazine is sort of one of those outlets. I say sort of because they invoke Columbine in an article about bullying but they don’t come right out and say that’s what caused it.

At least 42 states have passed laws against bullying — most since the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado, where two troubled boys killed themselves and 13 others.

Troubled? Most definitely. Bullied? Not even close and yet that’s what a lot of anti-bullying advocates still base their arguments on. Again I can’t take your argument seriously when it’s based on a myth.

Dave Cullen: Columbine Mythbuster

Published on October 19, 2010 by Trench Reynolds in The Myth. 25 Comments Tags: , , , .

The other day I posted about how the myth that the Columbine cowards were bullied is still being perpetuated. Today I came across another article that mentioned Columbine and bullying in the same breath, written by a PhD no less.

To my shock and chagrin I found out that this was not an article perpetuating the myth but actually dispelling the myth. And not only was the myth dispelled but it mentioned the man whose opinion I respect most when it comes to all things Columbine and that would be Dave Cullen. Not only did Dave Cullen write the definitive news article on Columbine called “The Depressive and the Psycopath” but he also wrote what I think is the definitive book which is simply entitled “Columbine”.

This is what the article’s author had to say about “Columbine”…

In the days immediately after the tragic event, there was so much misinformation fed to the public by the media, that a lot of unsubstantiated information became legend and were never questioned.

In this revelatory book, Cullen debunks several myths about Harris and Klebold, such as they were part of a group called the “Trenchcoat Mafia” or they were total social outcasts and had specifically targeted “the jocks” who had bullied them.

Instead, Cullen gives us a psychological profile of two teenage killers who were considered good students, who went to their own prom just three days before the murders, and had many friends. In what seems to me to be the greatest irony of all, Cullen shows us, often in the killers’ own words, that rather than being the “victims” who lived a fringe, isolated existence in their suburban high school, they were in fact the real bullies. They were two teenagers filled with raging hatred and contempt for almost everyone, adults and peers alike, and were bombs just waiting to explode.

Emphasis mine.

It actually warms my cold dead heart to see that there are still people out there with the rational intelligence to be responsible enough not to throw every myth, mistruth and conspiracy theory about Columbine.