Do 2015 HS students find Columbine-style bullying funny?

Was the bullying at Columbine bad? If so, was it bad only by 1999 standards?

Earlier I was talking to an 18-year-old guy I know ... he works at a restaurant where I eat a lot. This kid is very short - I mean, no more than 5'4" - but he's kind of cocky.

He graduated from high school a few months ago. I asked him if bullying was a big problem at his school, and he said, "Nah - not really."

LPorter
Who were the lowest kids at the school?

Other Guy
I dunno ... the video-game kids, I guess. There were kids who didn't have friends and who played video games all the time. But there wasn't a lot of bullying.

LPorter
Were there any groups that were allowed to get away with things that others weren't?

Other Guy
Not really.

LPorter
Jocks? Athletes?

Other Guy
Nearly everyone at my school was into sports ... almost everyone was an athlete of some kind.

The guy asked me why I wanted to know about these things ... I told him that I once did a research project on school violence and bullying, and that I was still interested in such matters. (I didn't tell him that I post on a board where we talk about it all the time. )

LPorter
Have you ever heard of Columbine?

Other Guy
Yeah, I have.

LPorter
Well, there was a book that came out a few years ago that claimed that the boys were not bullied ... but they were, and it's been well-documented.

Other Guy
What happened?

LPorter
Well, there was this one kid who went to the school who was well-known to everyone. He was always getting in trouble, but his dad had lots of money and was always able to get him out of it. One year, his dad got him a Hummer for his birthday, and he smashed it up while driving drunk on the freeway. So, the next day, his dad got him a new one.

Other Guy
Yeah, I know guys like that - rich kids.

LPorter
He was one of the top jocks - captain of the wrestling team and a star player on the football team - and he was the biggest asshole in the school, by far. He bullied anyone and everyone. The principal knew what was happening ... the coaches knew what was happening ... they didn't do anything. They didn't care.

Other Guy
He probably did a lot for the school's reputation.

LPorter
Yes, he was the state champion wrestler.

Other Guy
Well, yeah, that's how it is. But what did this guy do that was so bad?

LPorter
One day, he and some of his buddies took some tampons, and squirted ketchup on the tampons, and threw them at the kids and said, "Ha-ha, you faggots don't have dicks, you have pussies, and you're having your periods."

Other Guy
(Laughing) That is hilarious, man. You have to admit that that's fucking hilarious.

LPorter
But this stuff happened all the time. He had a habit of pushing people who were walking on the stairs. He would push them and then say something like, "Your boyfriend fucked you so hard last night that you can't even walk up the fucking stairs."

Other Guy
(Laughing) That's funny stuff.

LPorter
But it ate away at them.

Other Guy
Well, then why didn't they kill him?

LPorter
He graduated the year before them. He was on one of the boys' shit lists - his "Should Have Died" list - but he wasn't at the school when they wanted to blow it up.

Other Guy
Well, if they hated him, then they should have killed him.

After that, he got busy, and I was already running late, so we stopped talking about it.

Where did you read about the specific insult Rocky yelled at the boys regarding their physical sex (or lack thereof)?

WendlaBergman wrote:

Where did you read about the specific insult Rocky yelled at the boys regarding their physical sex (or lack thereof)?

I don't know ... somewhere along the line.

The ketchup/tampon incident, where Rocky and his buddies called Eric and Dylan "faggots," has been discussed by several witnesses.

I just knew when I started reading this conversation that there would be at least one reference to Cullen in it.

Jenn wrote:

I just knew when I started reading this conversation that there would be at least one reference to Cullen in it.

And I didn't even say his name.

LPorter101 wrote:

Jenn wrote:

I just knew when I started reading this conversation that there would be at least one reference to Cullen in it.

And I didn't even say his name.

Yes but who else would you being talking about? It would have been funny if this kid told you he read Cullen's book and thought it was good.

Funny thing is that the bullying Eric and Dylan received was no different than half of the other kids in that school, anyway.

And I won't get much into my personal life but the bullying they received was nothing compared to the shit other kids got, or to myself when I was younger. They never came home from school with black eyes. As a matter of fact no jock on that school ever physically punched Eric, or Dylan. The closest is Dan Lab punching Eric in the face, and Dan wasn't even a bully. Eric and Dan didn't like each other, and always insulted each other, so that doesn't even count. Not even "Grade-A asshole Rocky Hoff" physically punched them. Jonathan Greene on the other hand received bruises, black eyes, and a lot of physical pain in his years at Columbine.

lol wrote:

Funny thing is that the bullying Eric and Dylan received was no different than half of the other kids in that school, anyway

So that makes it OK?

Well, I'm a 2015 HS student so no. I can confirm that a lot of students lack basic empathy, however it's more or less the same as 1999; kids are awful and will continue to be awful regardless of the decade or year.

A lot of people are oblivious to bullying and the affect it has on people if they are not personally affected by it. Maybe this kid really did go to a school where no one was bullied and everyone was an athlete and treated perfectly equally. Or maybe that was just his experience and he assumes, incorrectly, that everyone had the same experience. That his reaction to those incidents was to say they were hilarious makes me wonder if he may have witnessed bullying but didn't consider it that way because it was funny to him.

Nobody has changed.
People today are as dumb and cruel as they were in 1999 and way fuckin eariler than that.

Gustopoet2 wrote:

lol wrote:

Funny thing is that the bullying Eric and Dylan received was no different than half of the other kids in that school, anyway

So that makes it OK?

I never said it made it okay.

Things are still the same in 2015, bullying is still here, and, unfortunately, will always be, but it's maybe even worse today with social medias.

NineIsGod wrote:

Things are still the same in 2015, bullying is still here, and, unfortunately, will always be, but it's maybe even worse today with social medias.

Agreed. The only difference between today and 1999 is that we now have cyber bullying.

The cyber bullying seems almost worse, and a lot easier. Though does it lead to more suicidal thoughts and less homicidal ones?

HuskerStorm wrote:

The cyber bullying seems almost worse, and a lot easier.  Though does it lead to more suicidal thoughts and less homicidal ones?

That seems to be the trend

it didn't seem that bad for me, but my high school was filled with apathetic types who didn't really care about anything one way or the other. I guess it's a matter of demographics and money. it always seems like the wealthier school districts have more bullying problems.

Stories about Columbine bullying and so on makes me feel a lot better about my high school that hardly had any bullying and more just cliques. Very sad to hear that many schools still see similar bullying to Columbine.

LPorter101 wrote:

Was the bullying at Columbine bad? If so, was it bad only by 1999 standards?

Earlier I was talking to an 18-year-old guy I know ... he works at a restaurant where I eat a lot. This kid is very short - I mean, no more than 5'4" - but he's kind of cocky.

He graduated from high school a few months ago. I asked him if bullying was a big problem at his school, and he said, "Nah - not really."

LPorter
Who were the lowest kids at the school?

Other Guy
I dunno ... the video-game kids, I guess. There were kids who didn't have friends and who played video games all the time. But there wasn't a lot of bullying.

LPorter
Were there any groups that were allowed to get away with things that others weren't?

Other Guy
Not really.

LPorter
Jocks? Athletes?

Other Guy
Nearly everyone at my school was into sports ... almost everyone was an athlete of some kind.

The guy asked me why I wanted to know about these things ... I told him that I once did a research project on school violence and bullying, and that I was still interested in such matters. (I didn't tell him that I post on a board where we talk about it all the time. )

LPorter
Have you ever heard of Columbine?

Other Guy
Yeah, I have.

LPorter
Well, there was a book that came out a few years ago that claimed that the boys were not bullied ... but they were, and it's been well-documented.

Other Guy
What happened?

LPorter
Well, there was this one kid who went to the school who was well-known to everyone. He was always getting in trouble, but his dad had lots of money and was always able to get him out of it. One year, his dad got him a Hummer for his birthday, and he smashed it up while driving drunk on the freeway. So, the next day, his dad got him a new one.

Other Guy
Yeah, I know guys like that - rich kids.

LPorter
He was one of the top jocks - captain of the wrestling team and a star player on the football team - and he was the biggest asshole in the school, by far. He bullied anyone and everyone. The principal knew what was happening ... the coaches knew what was happening ... they didn't do anything. They didn't care.

Other Guy
He probably did a lot for the school's reputation.

LPorter
Yes, he was the state champion wrestler.

Other Guy
Well, yeah, that's how it is. But what did this guy do that was so bad?

LPorter
One day, he and some of his buddies took some tampons, and squirted ketchup on the tampons, and threw them at the kids and said, "Ha-ha, you faggots don't have dicks, you have pussies, and you're having your periods."

Other Guy
(Laughing) That is hilarious, man. You have to admit that that's fucking hilarious.

LPorter
But this stuff happened all the time. He had a habit of pushing people who were walking on the stairs. He would push them and then say something like, "Your boyfriend fucked you so hard last night that you can't even walk up the fucking stairs."

Other Guy
(Laughing) That's funny stuff.

LPorter
But it ate away at them.

Other Guy
Well, then why didn't they kill him?

LPorter
He graduated the year before them. He was on one of the boys' shit lists - his "Should Have Died" list - but he wasn't at the school when they wanted to blow it up.

Other Guy
Well, if they hated him, then they should have killed him.

After that, he got busy, and I was already running late, so we stopped talking about it.

I think that a lot of it was really bad. The thing is there are many reasons for why bullying happens. I dont think all bullies are aware or can see themselves in that position. They may have just aswell taught it at home and passed bullying behaviour on. As far as I know it's anything from trying to look cool or other motives. Lack of empathy for their targets is a common trait. There also seems to be a connection between bullying and being bullied. Meaning, that a certain amount of bullies occupy å middle space. They are both bullied and they retaliate by bullying others in return

In cases such as Columbine HS and extreme bullying- and now Im not talking about the massacre, but the accounts about bullying in the school itselves- I believe that when you reach that level of bullying, than thats because its allowed to escalate out of control. Hopefully, thanks to the Internet, people are increasingly aware of the damage it does. But I havent seen much talk in how to prevent it. I think all schools should have phonelines as its probably easier for kids than to report bullying

LPorter101 wrote:

WendlaBergman wrote:

Where did you read about the specific insult Rocky yelled at the boys regarding their physical sex (or lack thereof)?

I don't know ... somewhere along the line.

The ketchup/tampon incident, where Rocky and his buddies called Eric and Dylan "faggots," has been discussed by several witnesses.

I thought it was only two or three, and does Sue really count?

And, LPorter--are we now confirming that ROCKY took part in the tampon incident? I realize this post is four years old...

I've said it before and will say it again: the damn ketchup tampon thing should have more ****ing witnesses.

Bullying is always bad, but I assume that by 'bad' you mean extreme. And, yes, thats my impression too, allthough its possible that many of them graduated the year before the massacre happened.

Lunkhead McGrath wrote:

LPorter101 wrote:

WendlaBergman wrote:

Where did you read about the specific insult Rocky yelled at the boys regarding their physical sex (or lack thereof)?

I don't know ... somewhere along the line.

The ketchup/tampon incident, where Rocky and his buddies called Eric and Dylan "faggots," has been discussed by several witnesses.

I thought it was only two or three, and does Sue really count?

And, LPorter--are we now confirming that ROCKY took part in the tampon incident? I realize this post is four years old...

I've said it before and will say it again: the damn ketchup tampon thing should have more ****ing witnesses.

To my sisters knowledge it did not happen. There was a ketchup packet throwing incident that Dylan was part of/on the receiving end of, along with another one or two guys possibly, the exact specifics she's forgotten. The tampon incident was completely different and did not involve Eric or Dylan, it happened during a gym class, apparently clean unused tampons and pads were stuffed in a guys gym locker by the jocks and they fell out all over him while the jocks laughed and harassed the guy. He might have been friends with Eric and Dylan or maybe not, definitely part of a similar crowd.

Lunkhead McGrath wrote:

LPorter101 wrote:

WendlaBergman wrote:

Where did you read about the specific insult Rocky yelled at the boys regarding their physical sex (or lack thereof)?

I don't know ... somewhere along the line.

The ketchup/tampon incident, where Rocky and his buddies called Eric and Dylan "faggots," has been discussed by several witnesses.

I thought it was only two or three, and does Sue really count?

And, LPorter--are we now confirming that ROCKY took part in the tampon incident?  I realize this post is four years old...

I've said it before and will say it again: the damn ketchup tampon thing should have more ****ing witnesses.  

Ive never seen any mention that RH was involved. But he engaged in a lot of other criminal behaviours and from what I know, he subjected a fair number of students to extreme bullying. IDK wether he ever interacted with Eric and Dylan and hes friends left to begin with. But he obviously should have been expelled.

milennialrebelette wrote:

Lunkhead McGrath wrote:

LPorter101 wrote:

WendlaBergman wrote:

Where did you read about the specific insult Rocky yelled at the boys regarding their physical sex (or lack thereof)?

I don't know ... somewhere along the line.

The ketchup/tampon incident, where Rocky and his buddies called Eric and Dylan "faggots," has been discussed by several witnesses.

I thought it was only two or three, and does Sue really count?

And, LPorter--are we now confirming that ROCKY took part in the tampon incident?  I realize this post is four years old...

I've said it before and will say it again: the damn ketchup tampon thing should have more ****ing witnesses.  

To my sisters knowledge it did not happen. There was a ketchup packet throwing incident that Dylan was part of/on the receiving end of, along with another one or two guys possibly, the exact specifics she's forgotten. The tampon incident was completely different and did not involve Eric or Dylan, it happened during a gym class, apparently clean unused tampons and pads were stuffed in a guys gym locker by the jocks and they fell out all over him while the jocks laughed and harassed the guy. He might have been friends with Eric and Dylan or maybe not, definitely part of a similar crowd.

A friend of mine also verifies what your sister said. It's not the first time I heard the tampons and ketchup being combined for some reason...

Just like on the day of the ketchup thing, there are people who say Sue walked into Dylan's room and saw him crying with this stuffed animals.. they're combining 2 stories that happened about 12 years apart... a 16 year old boy is probably not crying with his stuff animals, but would probably be pretty distressed.

Screamingophelia wrote:

milennialrebelette wrote:

Lunkhead McGrath wrote:

LPorter101 wrote:

WendlaBergman wrote:

Where did you read about the specific insult Rocky yelled at the boys regarding their physical sex (or lack thereof)?

I don't know ... somewhere along the line.

The ketchup/tampon incident, where Rocky and his buddies called Eric and Dylan "faggots," has been discussed by several witnesses.

I thought it was only two or three, and does Sue really count?

And, LPorter--are we now confirming that ROCKY took part in the tampon incident?  I realize this post is four years old...

I've said it before and will say it again: the damn ketchup tampon thing should have more ****ing witnesses.  

To my sisters knowledge it did not happen. There was a ketchup packet throwing incident that Dylan was part of/on the receiving end of, along with another one or two guys possibly, the exact specifics she's forgotten. The tampon incident was completely different and did not involve Eric or Dylan, it happened during a gym class, apparently clean unused tampons and pads were stuffed in a guys gym locker by the jocks and they fell out all over him while the jocks laughed and harassed the guy. He might have been friends with Eric and Dylan or maybe not, definitely part of a similar crowd.

A friend of mine also verifies what your sister said. It's not the first time I heard the tampons and ketchup being combined for some reason...

Just like on the day of the ketchup thing, there are people who say Sue walked into Dylan's room and saw him crying with this stuffed animals..  they're combining 2 stories that happened about 12 years apart... a 16 year old boy is probably not crying with his stuff animals, but would probably be pretty distressed.

.

You are correct. The one incident refers to elementary school. Sue mentions that he had said some Kids were mean to him.

The other was the ketchup incident