Bullycide
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Bullycide is a portmanteau formed from the words bully and suicide and/or homicide. This term was coined by Neil Marr and Tim Field, the writers of the book Bullycide, Death at Playtime. [link] As the etymology suggests, bullycide refers to the suicide or killing of a child due to bullying, or a bully victim seeking fatal revenge against his or her bullies, such as a school shooting. Since bullying can cause an individual to feel hopeless about himself, he may have very low self-esteem and may suffer depression as a result. This can eventually lead to suicide.
Bullycide can refer to a school shooting that is provoked by bullying, as well as murders that occur as a result of bullying. Bullies can pick on people physically hard enough to actually kill them. Fatal accidents resulting from bullying (eg. being hit by traffic while running across a busy road to escape bullies) can be counted as bullycides as well.
Examples of Bullycide
- An eighth grader named Curtis Taylor (b. December 18, 1978) at Oak Bridge Middle School in Burlington, Iowa was a victim of bullying for three years. Bullies called him names, bashed him into a locker, poured chocolate milk down his sweatshirt, kicked the cast of his broken foot, and vandalized his belongings. They drove him into committing suicide on March 22, 1993 when he went into his bedroom and shot himself in the head. His death has been cited by researchers as one of the earliest identified incidents of bullycide. Curtis was the subject of an article by journalist Bob Greene.
- Thirteen-year-old Jared High was brutally assaulted by a known schoolyard bully. After he and the bully both got suspended, he became depressed, and eventually committed suicide.
- Twelve-year-old Debbie Shaw at a British school died from injuries received from fighting a bully.
- Jean Evans, a teacher in the West Midlands, committed suicide because of bullying from students. Another teacher at the same school committed suicide shortly afterwards.
Fictional examples of Bullycide
- The Marilyn Manson song, "Lunchbox", is a fictional account about bullying. However, there is a reference to a piece of legislation dating back to 1972 which bans metal lunchboxes, lest they be used as weapons. The lyrics include: "I've got my lunchbox and I'm armed real well."
- The Pearl Jam song "Jeremy," from their 1991 debut album Ten tells the story of a quiet, bullied teen who perpetrates violent revenge against his persecutors. The lyrics merely imply the violence with the repetitive and foreboding line, "Jeremy spoke in class today."
- Writing under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman, popular novelist Stephen King penned a novella, Rage, about a teen who, having been abused by his father, goes insane and takes hostage a class of 24 children after he murders two teachers. Although written long before events in the media like the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, King has in recent years expressed regret that he ever published the work. "I guess if there's anything I regret, it's having published Rage, which is about a kid who carries a rifle to school and shoots people," King says in an interview[link] at Amazon.com. "I feel like I don't think it causes anybody to do that, but I think in several cases it's been what arson inspectors call an 'accelerant.'" He adds that he has since withdrawn the novella from publication.
See also
External links
- [Bullying Online]
- [Jared Story.com] (about Jared High mentioned above)
- [The Curtis Taylor bullying-suicide story]
- [Bullyonline.org: List of bullycides]
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