were doing what you're supposed to do in high school. Kids like us, who dressed a little differently and were into different things, made teachers nervous. They weren't interested in reaching out to us. They wanted to keep us at arm's length, and if they had the chance to take us down, they would.
The bullies liked to propel paper clips at us with a rubber band. If a teacher saw you get hit, he or she did nothing. But as soon as you threw it back, or did something to defend yourself, you were done. The teacher would grab you and you would be in the office. We were the “undesirables,” and the teachers were just waiting for an excuse to nail us. The bullies knew it.
Usually we didn't fight back. One thing we learned early on was that if we responded at all to what the bullies did, they'd do it more. Bullies want power. They want boosts to their self-esteem, and they think that if they can make you fear them, they've won something. That's the mentality that bullied kids have to deal with on an everyday basis. We knew that there was nothing we could do to stop them, but at least they wouldn't get anything out of it if we just ignored them.
Even so, the pain of bullying was taking its toll on us. Eric, especially, was a target. He had two strikes against him; the first was that he had a slight chest deformity. It wasn't that noticeable—it was just sunken in a bit—but when Eric would take his shirt off in P.E. class, the bullies were ready and waiting to mock him. Mocking a guy for a physical problem he can't control is one of the most humiliating ways to bring him down.
On top of that, Eric was the shortest of our group. The rest of us, as we got older, became well over six feet in height; Eric never did. He was small, he was a “computer geek,” and he wasn't even from Colorado to begin with. He was as prime a target as the bullies at Columbine could have asked for.
Brooks's experiences were not unique. A year after the Columbine tragedy, research into the school's atmosphere was conducted by ReginaHuerter, Director of Juvenile Diversion for the Denver District Attorney's Office. Huerter's findings paint a disturbing picture of cruelty and indifference in Columbine's halls .
From October 14 to November 29, 2000, Huerter conducted interviews with twenty-eight adults and fifteen current or past students regarding their experiences with bullying at Columbine and how administrators responded to it .
Huerter's nine-page report was presented to the Governor's Columbine Review Commission on December 1, 2000. It contained numerous examples of assaults, racism, and other forms of bullying that witnesses say went on in the years before the Columbine murders .
“All students with whom I spoke, independent of their status at school, acknowledged there was bullying,” Huerter wrote. “One identified the unwritten rules of survival in the school as: ‘Don't screw with anyone who can beat you up, don't look at jocks in the eye, bump them, or hit on their girlfriend, and don't walk in the wrong area . . .’”
At the same time, Huerter noted “a strong perception from nearly everyone I spoke with that there was ‘no reason to say anything about the bullying—no one was going to do anything.’ Some students were just ‘untouchable.’”
Huerter described an “overwhelming” sense that teachers responded only to bullying they had personally witnessed—and that when “certain parties” were involved, even these incidents were overlooked .
Students and parents who did report bullying often met with an unsatisfactory response. Among the examples Huerter mentioned in her report:
Two students repeatedly bullied a fifteen-year-old classmate in Physical Education class two years before the shooting. “The victim was repeatedly subjected to ‘twisters,’ a form of pinching and twisting the skin,” Huerter wrote. “Although the class was in session,the teacher didn't acknowledge knowing what was taking place.
The bullies liked to propel paper clips at us with a rubber band. If a teacher saw you get hit, he or she did nothing. But as soon as you threw it back, or did something to defend yourself, you were done. The teacher would grab you and you would be in the office. We were the “undesirables,” and the teachers were just waiting for an excuse to nail us. The bullies knew it.
Usually we didn't fight back. One thing we learned early on was that if we responded at all to what the bullies did, they'd do it more. Bullies want power. They want boosts to their self-esteem, and they think that if they can make you fear them, they've won something. That's the mentality that bullied kids have to deal with on an everyday basis. We knew that there was nothing we could do to stop them, but at least they wouldn't get anything out of it if we just ignored them.
Even so, the pain of bullying was taking its toll on us. Eric, especially, was a target. He had two strikes against him; the first was that he had a slight chest deformity. It wasn't that noticeable—it was just sunken in a bit—but when Eric would take his shirt off in P.E. class, the bullies were ready and waiting to mock him. Mocking a guy for a physical problem he can't control is one of the most humiliating ways to bring him down.
On top of that, Eric was the shortest of our group. The rest of us, as we got older, became well over six feet in height; Eric never did. He was small, he was a “computer geek,” and he wasn't even from Colorado to begin with. He was as prime a target as the bullies at Columbine could have asked for.
Brooks's experiences were not unique. A year after the Columbine tragedy, research into the school's atmosphere was conducted by ReginaHuerter, Director of Juvenile Diversion for the Denver District Attorney's Office. Huerter's findings paint a disturbing picture of cruelty and indifference in Columbine's halls .
From October 14 to November 29, 2000, Huerter conducted interviews with twenty-eight adults and fifteen current or past students regarding their experiences with bullying at Columbine and how administrators responded to it .
Huerter's nine-page report was presented to the Governor's Columbine Review Commission on December 1, 2000. It contained numerous examples of assaults, racism, and other forms of bullying that witnesses say went on in the years before the Columbine murders .
“All students with whom I spoke, independent of their status at school, acknowledged there was bullying,” Huerter wrote. “One identified the unwritten rules of survival in the school as: ‘Don't screw with anyone who can beat you up, don't look at jocks in the eye, bump them, or hit on their girlfriend, and don't walk in the wrong area . . .’”
At the same time, Huerter noted “a strong perception from nearly everyone I spoke with that there was ‘no reason to say anything about the bullying—no one was going to do anything.’ Some students were just ‘untouchable.’”
Huerter described an “overwhelming” sense that teachers responded only to bullying they had personally witnessed—and that when “certain parties” were involved, even these incidents were overlooked .
Students and parents who did report bullying often met with an unsatisfactory response. Among the examples Huerter mentioned in her report:
Two students repeatedly bullied a fifteen-year-old classmate in Physical Education class two years before the shooting. “The victim was repeatedly subjected to ‘twisters,’ a form of pinching and twisting the skin,” Huerter wrote. “Although the class was in session,the teacher didn't acknowledge knowing what was taking place.
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