A very different blog today…

Moving on to some other writings, I feel compelled to write of my sadness and outrage over the murder of a 15 year old boy in Oxnard, California this week by a classmate. I am furious that national media seem to have chosen to ignore this murder because, or so it seems, this murder is due to a controversial subject. This young man, Lawrence King, was gay and accounts report, did not hide this at school. Bullying and teasing was apparently not enough for the young man who decided to take a gun to school and walk up to Lawrence on Tuesday morning and shoot him in the head at point-blank range!

KNBC TV in Los Angeles reported…Police said a handgun was used in the attack, which occurred with more than 20 other students in the room. About three-quarters of the junior high’s 1,150 student body showed up Wednesday for school, where psychologists held counseling sessions, Hueneme School District Superintendent Jerry Dannenberg said. “We’re trying to get the children back into their normal routines as quickly as possible,” he said. The school is in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles. “He was just an innocent little boy who was trying to live his life,” a student told KNBC. King had been under the care of the Ventura County foster care system and lived at Casa Pacifica, a nearby center for abused and neglected children, said Steve Elson, the facility’s chief executive. “We’re are all stunned and it’s just an unspeakable tragedy,” Elson said. “This is a very big traumatic experience for all of us.” King had been receiving help from school support staff, Dannenberg said. He had no details on the type of assistance the teen needed. “He was seeing a number of people trying to help him deal with his own personal issues,” he said.

This is so very sad to me. WHY is there no national attention?

I am a certified trainer on School Safety and Anti-bullying for the National Education Association (NEA) and have trained in Boston, D.C., San Francisco, and Orlando. The research shows extraordinary numbers of students are bullied in our schools… many are gay. It sickened me this evening to read the following comment in an online forum for ABC News… Finally some kid steps up and takes care of a kid acting all fruity. Good Job!!!
Posted by: AztecEd2000 12:20 AM Posted at…http://www.abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/comments?type=story&id=4292447

I am grateful to be a member of the NEA training cadre. If you are interested in hosting training for educators in your area… http://www.nea-glbtc.org/training_flyer_pg.html