Bull135 D13
It is natural and ethical for the victim of aggression to defend him/herself. Given human nature, it is foreseeable that repeated and unchecked aggression can lead to a desperate response that, relative to the offense(s), is overkill. From the aggressors’ point of view, the meaning of this should be clear: like the mugger, the burglar, the rapist, the possible consequences of their actions, the occupational hazards, can and should include death. Even if the reapeated aggressor is a grade-school bully.
Billy Wolfe in Fayetteville, AR, is taking a higher road, suing at least one of the bullies that has assaulted and battered him for years. Others, like the Columbine shooters and many others over the years, have taken more violent steps. In most or all of those cases, the shooting was not entirely targeted, and innocent bystanders were shot and killed.
The morality of the situation is a moot point by the time the shooting occurs. Bystanders who see continued bullying should realize that their own lives may be at stake and take steps to resolve the situation. Schools should deal with repeated aggressors aggressively, as violent criminals, ideally, are dealt with by the law.
I don’t personally trust the law or authority figures in general, and institutional solutions are often worse than the problems they are created to solve. I like to fantasize about seriously damaging, even killing, those who physically threaten or attack me. I like to think about Heathers-style solutions to institutional problems.
If schools and bullies and innocent, bystanding students truly care for their existence, they need to alter their behaviors before another victim snaps, taking it a little farther than I do, becoming an aggressor him/herself in a decidedly irrational and random way.
