The Serious Side of Bullying Bullying is a very large issue, one which is becoming more apparent to society at large. In the past, bullying was considered to be something that minor. This is a belief that is still held to some extent, but is starting to fade away. Many people have come to realize that bullying isn’t just kids being kids, but that it’s a serious behavior problem that needs to be addressed. Bullying in some cases leads to suicide and homicide for the victims. Many people, have brushed bullying aside. Some say that it’s just boys being boys, or that telling a teacher about bullying is tattling, and that words will never hurt you. Pacer.org These are all dismissive statements. These are all ways to make bullying seem acceptable, the fact is that it never is. Words do hurt people; far more than physical violence. Physical wounds heal; words remain in one’s mind forever. The words of the bully remain in the mind of the victim, cropping up at any time in their life. There is only one way those voices can be silenced, death. Death is an expensive price to pay just because someone else was feeling ill towards the victim. Another form of accepted bullying is hazing. Many groups have hazing rituals that potential members of their group must go through in order to gain acceptance. Dr. Robert Brooks April, 2004 While some people don’t recognize the lasting effects hazing has, others admit to being depressed and/or suicidal after such acts. Yet, throughout the world these hazing acts are viewed as normal parts of youth or joining a group. Many people don’t bat an eye over hazing to join a Fraternity or Sorority. Perhaps hazing is acceptable to many because in many cultures, such as American culture, there really isn’t any coming of age ceremonies. History is full of coming of age traditions, yet in America we are lacking in that department. This could be part of the underlying reason why hazing is acceptable to so many. Bullying can lead to homicide. The whole world was in shock over the events that occurred in April of 1999, at a high school in Columbine, Colorado. Two boys entered the school late in the morning, and began killing, and in the end killed themselves. Eric Harris and Dylan Kebold were bullied by athletes; sometimes homophobic comments were aimed at them. While there were indications that the pair held high contempt for the school and some of their classmates, nothing was done to stop it. They did a film project, entitled “Hitmen For Hire”, which depicted the pair killing students at school. It seems that no notice was taken of this work. There wasn’t any notice taken of a graphic murderous paper written by Harris in January of 1999, aside from the teacher saying “Yours is a unique approach and your writing works in a gruesome way — good details and mood setting” . The incidents at Columbine prove that bullying can lead to homicide, and also suicide. Their journals depicted that they were going to commit suicide in addition to homicide. Another example of bullying leading to homicide is the 1993 murder of Bobby Kent. Bobby Kent was a bully, and those he bullied, conspired to murder him on July 15, 1993. Those involved were Marty Puccio, Lisa Connely, Alice Slay, Donald Semenec Jr., Derek Kaufman, Derek Dzvirko, and Heather Swallers. Kaufman, Swallers and Dzvirko had not been bullied by Kent. Puccio had been bullied by Kent since childhood. Connely was Puccio’s girlfriend, and was cousins with Willis, whom Kent raped. Slay was Kent’s former girlfriend. Semenec Jr. was Slay’s boyfriend at the time of the murder, and the former boyfriend of Willis. A few weeks before the murder, Kent allegedly threatened to