There have been times in my life where certain events have occurred and I could remember exactly where I was and what I was doing. I was at my wife’s parents’ house in Seattle when I watched the 9/11 attacks play out on television. I was in the library of my high school when I heard that OJ Simpson had been acquitted, and I remember exactly where I was when I heard about the tragedy at Dawson College. I was practicing at the Olympic Stadium. This is a very unfortunate event and I send out my condolences to all of the victims and their families.
Throughout the off-season my teammates and I participate in Alouette school programs like “Adopt an Alouette” “The School Is Cool Basketball Jam”. In these programs we talk to kids that range in ages from kindergarten to high school on topics from staying in school, to goal setting, to staying off drugs. In most cases we have a conference with the school’s principal before each visit to discuss which topics they feel are most important to address. One of the more frequent topics we are asked to talk to the kids about is bullying. It is definitely one of the more difficult topics to talk to the kids about, but obviously, due to the overwhelming number of requests we get from schools to broach the subject, it is one of the most important that we address it.
We may never know the exact chain of events that led to the horrible scene at Dawson, but I have read that the gunman may have been bullied or picked on as a youth, which unfortunately, seems to be the case in similar tragedies such as Columbine. One thing that I think is important for all of us to realize and to relay to our kids- is bullying isn’t always physically picking on someone, but can also include saying hurtful things or ignoring
someone just because they are different.
When talking to kids in our programs we always try to relay the message that bullying is wrong, but even if they aren’t the bully and they witness someone being picked on and turn a blind eye, that they are part of the problem as well. Most of the time kids are afraid of being known as a tattle-tale or a rat, but we try to encourage kids to get involved. Kids will do whatever is accepted by their peers and if their peers look down upon bullying then the bullying may stop. We also let them know that it is okay to tell someone who is in a position to help whether it is a teacher, councilor or parent.
When a horrific incident like this occurs it is natural for us to look somewhere to place the blame. In cases such as this, the blame is often placed on video games, TV, movies, music, etc. I’m not a psychologist, I can’t say if these things can contribute to a young person going over the edge, but I do know that blame is a reactive response. I hope that we can all learn from this and start to become proactive. If we teach our kids from a young age the harmfulness of bullying and that it is wrong to ignore when others are being bullied, hopefully we can become a part of the solution and put an end to such senseless acts in the future.
Luke Fritz
Offensive Tackle
#61
