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Permalink Reply by Zoey on August 23, 2008 at 12:42am

That is horrible. Hopefully the kid who shot him will be put away for a long long time.

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Permalink Reply by Janine-Connor's mom on August 24, 2008 at 10:11pm

I am sickened by this- I am waiting to see if it comes out what reason the boy who shot the other gives as to why he did it-Connor is almpst 4 and I get worried about what he will have to deal with as he grows older and starts school

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Permalink Reply by Rose Marie' on August 25, 2008 at 12:50am

Hi

I think this type of thing is every parents nightmare. How does it happen and why??????

I have never personally had to deal with bullying until recently when I have had it perpetrated in a very underhanded way (as all bullying is). This was done by adults and I'm continually shocked at the behaviour that goes on amongst us. If we can't stop it as adults how on earth can we teach our beautiful children. Malicious words and behaviour are unacceptable there is never justification in my mind.

So, very sad for all involved.

Rosy

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Permalink Reply by Karena on August 25, 2008 at 6:16pm

I think it is a very scary thing as well. I too, have been "bullied" by teens, laughed at, pointed at and mocked. It is very hard to deal with it. I work as a therapist to teenagers in a high school and have been for about 6 years. Over the years I come to realize something. First, it is always the ones that do not know you who have something to say about you. Second, these teenagers only care about themselves and think it is "cool" to make fun of someone. Third, feeding into them doesn't work. The best way I feel I have handled it is to just ignore them or look at them to acknowledge tem, but do nothing else. I realize that "the ones who mind don't matter, and the ones who matter don't mind." Don't feed into the bullies!!! And for the kids in school who have Alopecia, have an ally. This can be a teacher, counselor, other staff member, or your true friends that will be on your side. Bullying is not acceptable in my school and it shouldn't be in yours either!!

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Permalink Reply by Carol on August 26, 2008 at 8:11am

Bullying isn't acceptable at the schools in my area either however that doesn't stop it from occuring. From another who was bullied throughout school, there is so much going on beyond what teachers, counselors and volunteers see. It was bad 20 years ago and it has only gotten worse with a larger portion of female bullies now which makes things worse for young ladies with alopecia. The articles about Ryan Mcdonald's death suggest he developped an exterior tough guy image or attitude to defend himself against unwanted attention but there seem to be a lot of teens on here that have wonderful, positive attitudes which I'm sure can be tricky to introduce in a rough neighbourhood. What this comes around to though is that we must induce positive attitudes in those with alopecia and make sure that the community is aware of alopecia, especially school staff and peers. This was absent in my rearing and thus made for a very challenging childhood.

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