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This isn't going to make your problems go away. It's only going to give you new ones! | Source: Shutterstock
Such is the case in Indiana, where a gay teen named Darnell “Dynasty” Young was being bullied and threatened with physical violence at school because of his sexuality and penchant for wearing girls’ clothing. This kind of bullying is not only homophobic, but also lame–we think that as long as kids are within their school dress codes, they should generally be able to wear what they want!) Actually, bullying of any kind is not and never will be cool, period. However, Darnell and his mom’s response to said bullying was plainly horrifying.
Darnell’s mom, Chelisa Grimes, sent Darnell to school with a stun gun. A stun gun. Darnell didn’t actually outright use it on anyone directly, but he did use it: When six other students surrounded him at school and started to threaten to beat him up and call him names, Darnell lifted the stun gun in the air and set it off–it released an electric charge, making the group flee and essentially helping to remove himself from the situation. Darnell was arrested by school police officers a little while later and taken away in handcuffs.
The problem here is, a stun gun is a weapon. Those who think what he did isn’t a big deal: What if Darnell angled it incorrectly or misused it? What if someone grabbed out of his hand and used it against him? Imagine, for a second, that Darnell’s stun gun was just a gun. Like, a real gun. Wouldn’t your opinion change? In either case, he could have really hurt someone else or himself, resulting in repercussions a lot worse and a lot more long lasting than the expulsion he’s facing right now. You know, like jail time or serious injury.
That lack of foresight leads us to believe that Ms. Grimes is a few Pokemon cards short of a full deck. What’s more is that her reasoning just doesn’t make any sense. “I do not promote violence — not at all,” she insisted to CNN, “but what is a parent to do when she has done everything that she felt she was supposed to do … at the school? I did feel like there was nothing else left for me to do, but protect my child.”
Hold up. So Ms. Grimes doesn’t promote violence, but she resorts to solving her kid’s problems with a stun gun? She insists on “protecting her child” by giving him a disciplinary (and possibly criminal) record and potentially endangering other students?
Listen, bullying sucks, especially for LGBT people who are just coming to terms with and learning about their own sexuality and have a hard time being accepted to begin with. No one should have to go through that ever. But it does happen, and there are ways to deal with and prevent it without resorting to violence or weapons, neither of which solve the underlying problems of ignorance and intolerance (and sometimes denial).
Guns--stun or otherwise--aren't the answer to bullying. | Source: Shutterstock
Ms. Grimes further misses the point with her next statement: “I think that the self-protection device is what’s making the news, but the big picture is that my child is not the only one who does not feel safe at our school.” Uh, maybe one of the reasons people don’t feel safe is because people like you are encouraging your kids to bring weapons to school. Fighting violence with violence only breeds more–you guessed it!–violence. And that never solves anything.
Do you think Darnell was out of line to bring a stun gun to school? Do you think his mom was wrong to encourage him to bring a stun gun to stop bullying? Have you ever been bullied or attacked? How did you resolve the issue? Tell us in the comments!
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i think he had every right to have something to protect himself
He could have brought a gun as other students have done in the past. It could have been Columbine all over again. A stun gun is the lesser of the two evils. When you are bullied you are trapped, there is no where to turn. Teachers wont do anything other than a token slap on the wrist for the offenders, for fear of offending a parents sensibilities. The parents that ‘know’ their son or daughter could never be a bully. The cops, unless something major happens, (ie: Darnell is lying in the hospital beat and broken), will not do anything because of the here-say… Bully’s friends have thier story, and the bullied friends have thiers. Your parents, well, how much does it suck to have your folks be there all the time where others can see. The bullying also never stops in this day and age. School, Home, all connected with the social networking, these poor kids deal with this each day. All Day.
I get where this mom and son are coming from. Last year, my first year in high school, this guy was giving a hard time and eventually punched me hard enough to break one of my ribs…during science class! The school did NOTHING so my mom had me take pepper spray with me when I went back. And I know that if I had needed to, I would’ve used it. It made me feel a lot safer.
The bullies need to get in trouble, not this guy. He was just trying to protect himself like I did.
i think whats sad is that he felt like he had to! if you have a child who feels like theres no way to protect himself but from bringing a stun gun to school then shouldnt you be looking at the kids who are bulling him? its kinda like what missfiction said.. what if he hadnt brought the gun to school? maybe he figured that jail time was a lot better then losing his life. look at it this way.. i doubt that ANYONE in that school will pick on him anymore
THOSE “other students” bullied him.
Imagine if HE DIDNT bring a stun gun to school. And the six students hurt him so badly, he DIED. ISNT THAT WHAT happened to another girl who got into a fight?! ITS better that no-one got hurt, but he protected him self.
But his mother could have just given him mace.
Thats what i would do lol
The mother said she had done everything possible to end the bullying, this probably included talking to teachers and administrators. If Darnell was completely surrounded by the other students, had asked them to leave him alone, and then he released the charge then he was not as wrong as if he had just come to school and started shooting his peers. They were repeatedly antagonizing him after other measures had been taken. I understand everyone’s shock but NO ONE was helping like they were supposed to be. Where were the “school police officers” when Darnell was being harassed and THREATENED with physical violence? Darnell and his mother are definitely not the only ones at fault here, obviously there is something going on at the school itself. If the teachers, administrators, and police officers had been doing their job and preventing the bullying, harassment, and threats then Darnell would not have had the gun in the school or ever. His mother is not “missing the point”; she is trying to protect her child. Guns and violence are not the answer to bullying but, because Darnell was being threatened with physical violence by multiple assailants, this could count as self-defense.
First off I want to remind people he brought a stun gun NOT an actual gun. Second, I think that he went over the line but at the same time I get why he felt he did what he did. You said earlier in the article he could have done things to protect himself but he really he couldn’t do much. Telling a teacher or principal won’t do much. At most they will get a stern lecture or a detention and then the bully will go back to bullying him. He felt his life was at danger. His mom said she was against violence but let him bring a stun gun in because most moms would go to far lengths to protect their child. Sure it was wrong, and they could have told the cops but nothing would really have been done until the bullies physically hurt Darnell and by then it could be too late.
, (this is way off topic) I was a bullied child’, the one who would sit and read. Naturally, I was gay’ I maneagd to suck up the punishment for a couple years, and finally had enough. Having lured my enemies’ across the street, I fought off three fellow students, all of them taller and heavier than me. Two were twins. The school allowed me to come right in the next day, just to have me arrested by the chicago police. Apparently I caused major internal injury to my assailants. I was put in handcuffs in the fourth grade. Afterwards my parents were brainwashed by varioius social workers to put me on zoloft, which I pretented to take. This led to a long line of sad events which I have trouble even now forgiving them for. It also let to me becoming quite introverted and socially ackward.When I look back at what happened, handling the situation with my fists I may as well have used a damn stun gun.. The winner is apparently always the agressor. I hope that the people I dealt with learned a thing or two, and I fear for my sister 15 years younger, who is trapped in this sick and sad public school system. A system where (10+yrs ago) they would arrest and charge a skinny ass nerd kid for fighting off 3+ children bigger than him. I could only imagine if I actually was gay, the hate I would hhave received. Attempting to put myself in his situation.. I honestly have no idea what I would have done.. I am just gratefull I was taught to fight like a man, and that my enemies’ apparently understood the same. Granted it didn’t stop their parents from suing my parents for 50k+ in medical bills. (Spleen)A loose loose situation, to be sure.. Although If I ever have a son, I will teach him to handle it the exact same way. The only way.