As someone who was tortured ever day of her school-going life -- I sympathize with him.

And I don't understand why we, as a society, do not condemn the bullying behavior, and call it was it is -- harrassment, slander, and assualt. And we should be criminally prosecuting these little fucks.

And the school administrators who dismiss it.

My BFF is an elementary school teacher, and she can bring me to tears with tales of bullying at her school.

She is a total bully that way.

i had such an awful middle school experience that my parents contacted the aclu to sue the school. at the last minute i convinced my parents that suing the principal and the parents of those fuckers weren't going to fix anything, and then hooray, we moved out of state and i never had to deal with those assholes again.

Bullying makes me sick, because it has the potential to fuck kids up (in the short and long term).

My feeling is that when it starts, it can be hard to stop because it snowballs. Also (and I am sure someone well-versed in sociology can weigh in) there's something about "group think" where an individual acts in an entirely different way than he or she would if alone.

This story saddens and outrages me. Bullies do irreparable harm. And they grow up to be assholes. I would take my kid far far away from this scene.

that poor little thing. i just want to hug him and give him cookies and lemonaid and then take him to the movies. and then beat up anyone who ever touched him.

I was bullied because I was different and the other kids were a little afraid of me. I was always taller than everyone, even many of the boys (still am.) I also got good grades.

I was huge and smart and thus terrifying.

Boys still think this today.

This breaks my heart, and it really does make the case for a small private school. No one got physically bullied at my school. Of course, it wasn't like Gossip Girl, but this kid doesn't live in NYC either.

I'd like to scoop him up and move him somewhere else, because any fresh start would be better than where he is now...

@NewsBunny: It seems - and I am not making an excuse for their behavior - that every single student who's been involved in a school shooting has been bullied by his/her peers.

And I'm going to say something else that's going to get me tortured.

Maybe the stories we hear over and over again about isolated kids snapping and going postal on their classmates would happen a lot less if they weren't tortured every day of their lives.

I'm not saying anyone deserved to be attacked. I'm just pointing out an ugly truth.

Aww. I want to go home to Arkansas and hug Billy and kick some other kids' asses. Poor kid.

I was hoping Jezebel would blog about this story.

I would like to invite Billy and his parents to move out of East Butt---k and come live next door to us in New York City, where he would quickly find kids like him and where our liberal schools would never allow the kind of crap that apparently goes on in the oh-so-Christian state of Arkansas. Not that New York is Valhalla, by any means, but this would so not go down here.

My heart goes out to that boy.

@Archetype: You beat me to it.

Ah, memories of my junior high bully are all coming back to me. She had really huge bangs and wore far too much eyeliner. And thought it was fun to spike volleyballs at me. Good times.

Has this Facebook group been taken down? I'm disturbed by this.

@NewsBunny: Hey! We think alike, it seems.

Why do kids bully?

Insecurity. Lack of power in their own lives, so they seek out power over others. Also, no fear or the consequences, if there are any.

Who befriend the meek and the bullied from a place of social dominance? What are those kids smoking?

Personally, I was always befriending the meek and kicking ass on their behalf, because I liked confrontation but didn't want to get in trouble for it. But if I'm defending a kid from a bully, I shouldn't get expelled for opening up a can of whup-ass, right Principal McMillian?

I'm struggling to find words for this -- I actually feel nauseous after reading this story and seeing that kid's sad little bruised face and plaintive eyes.

I am so happy to be an adult, every fucking day of my life that I'm not a kid is a gift.

@ihateyourescalade: Hi. Please do not speak ugly of entire states that you know nothing about. Or I'll have to round up my posse of Arkansas Jezebels, including one BAngieB.

I try not to be one of those people who blames parents for every bad act of their children -- sometimes kids are just assholes. But, this kind of shit is completely beyond the pale. Somewhere along the line adults have to act like motherfucking adults and get this fucked-upedness under control. No kid should have to endure this no matter how odd or even unpleasant he or she is. And no adult should have the stomach to tolerate bullying of anyone's child.

This story made me incredibly sad. I got some minor bullying--it seems all girls get bullying, even if you're popular and smart and friendly (not saying I was all these) you are subjected to the girl-on-girl hate that seems to be running rampant. It seems to me that the only people who don't get bullied are big popular boys who are physically intimidating as well as socially in the right place.

You get bullied because some group (or groups) decides that not only do you not fit in, your mere presence on Earth, or something you do/say, is offensive to that group, and they have to teach you a lesson and keep you in your proper place. As a target of bullying through many years in middle school and junior high, I can honestly say it makes no sense, is alienating, fills you with a generalized rage that has no outlet (mainly because it would never have occurred to me to go Dylan Klebold on these jerks), and haunts you for no good reason, because you know these bullies are trash.

Thanks for reminding me that I'd rather be trapped, alive and fully aware, in a burning car than relive ages 6-18.

Tall, fat, brunette girl in a sea of short, skinny blondes? Yeah, no wonder my life was a living hell.

i would love to hear from former(current?) bullies...i mean it sounds like everyone's a victim (myself included) of a bully, but will anyone admit to being one?

@NewsBunny:

I'm with you.

@NewsBunny: I thought I was the ONLY person in the world who felt this way. Thank you for saying this. I secretly ached for the Columbine shooters.

I was taught never to initiate a fight, but to always defend myself and my friends. There was no way some friend of mine was going to get bullied. Ever.

Maybe it's because he doesn't stand up for himself? People are animals, we can smell weakness a mile away and that makes us uneasy and inadequate.

Survival of the fittest and when you see someone who can't cope-you think you can catch it..

People are angry and unhappy-we are dying to make someone else share our pain..

@myrtlebeachbum: Bullies seem to find their way into positions of power, so that they can continue their bullying. I think that's the main desire behind it: power. Getting it and keeping it.

Is your friend really a bully?

@funnyface: I know about Arkansas. Mr. Escalade's family is from there. Though I am sure that you're quite lovely.

Even though I was pretty much the nerd of my grade (read on the swings at recess, etc.) I never really got bullied. Maybe it was the whole Quaker school thing or maybe because I was a snob to the rest of the kids.

That poor kid is just too adorable to be bullied. He most definitely needs a hug

I was bullied until people figured out that my older sister's best friend was a huge scary girl who wasn't afraid to threaten people on my behalf. That was nice.

@Lady Skittlehattington, Worsties Guild President: I'm getting those Megan Meier feelings thanks to this story.

This story makes me so sad. I was bullied for being that weird girl to the point where my mom talked about putting me in a private school. As much as I hated it at my school, I didn't want those bitches to think they were winning by running me off. This post just made me so sad for this boy. I too want to know if facebook has done anything about that group. I'm about to go look for it and flag it or report it or whatever if it's still there.

Anyone hear the "This American Life" story about the Muslim girl who was mercilessly bullied by her entire class after the teacher had them read a book about how Muslims hate America? That story broke my heart.

I forget sometimes that I was bullied, mostly at camp, which I guess means I got over it in a healthy way. And my college friends still beg me to tell the story about how, when my bunkmates gave me a box filled with horse poop, I put it in their beds.

It pisses me off when the administration doesn't get involved with things like this. There was a horrible group of Mean Girls in my class and they were allowed to get away with doing horrible things to this one girl (pulling her skirt down in the hall, writing that she's a slut on the blackboard and the teacher left it there, keying her car) because one girl was the class president and the other two were on student council. It was a total case of the popular kids picking on the less popular kids. I wouldn't have been shocked if the girl they picked on flipped out one day and came into school with a gun.

@rantmagazine:boo hoo: Yep, which is why adults telling a kid to "just ignore it" is so maddening.

i got bullied because i went through puberty way earlier than anyone else, so i looked like a woman at age 8. and i was smart. clearly deserving to be put in my place by the boys in my grade. ha. i feel for any kid who gets needlessly tormented, and i hope that karma comes back to those who bully.

@ceejeemcbeegee (just debatin' not hatin'): the girl next door used to harass my sister all the time- pulling out her chair before she could sit down, pushing her, all sorts of stupid shit. my mom told her the next time it happened to punch her in the face when the bus pulled away. the next day, my sister gave her first and only bloody nose. our neighbor's moved soon after.

I was totally bullied - it sucked, but what was worse was that my teachers refused to punish anyone for it (and I wasn't the only one getting picked on). It was like they'd rather be BFFs with the popular kids than set them straight and protect the bullied.

My heart goes out to this poor kid, but I worry that the national exposure will only hurt him, in that it will give his tormentors more ammunition to use against him.

i was never bullied nor would i allow any of my friends to be bullied. if someone hits you, you hit them back. point blank.

@ceejeemcbeegee (just debatin' not hatin'): Exactly. You think I was gonna just let that asshole Michael sit there mooing at my friend and calling her a cow? HEEELLLLL NO. Little bastard got a big ol' piece of my 7th grade mind.

That poor kid. I have no idea what I'd do if that was happening to my kid. Private school? Move to a different district?

Sadly with the internet any kid at his new school would just have to google and they'd see all of the crap.

And he has two more years of that shit before he can escape to college (which I hope he does).

@ihateyourescalade: When I getting tripped, or being called cow, or having spitballs shot into my hair, I thought of killing these people. I would never have done it. But it's a little fantasy that maybe kept me sane.

I also hoped to see them working at K-mart or the like when I was a successful broadcaster. This has happened.

he he he

@NefariousNewt: No, she's not a bully. Just an inner-city elementary school teacher who vents in my direction. Some of the stuff she tells me brings me to my 33 year-old knees. And then I can't get up.

Welcome to the Dollhouse was a more Disneyfied version of my junior high experience, so I can sadly relate to this poor kid.

Billy, sweetheart, take it from someone who's been there: it can and does get better. Someday, you'll leave them far behind, and they'll keep stewing in their bad karma.

I find it hard to read about stories like this because this kind of senseless bullying is suffocating and so needless. I was tormented throughout K-12, both in public and private schools that were very Gossip Girl-esque. For years I could barely remember my real name because the nicknames my peers had given me were used so pervasively. I was a complete and total freak back then and I was definitely too smart, too tall, too odd looking. Bifocals did not help my cause. I am so thankful that I finally blossomed in college and on the outside, at least, appeared normal and relatively attractive. Whenever I idly think about what it might be like to go back to high school or junior high, I know with certainty that I would much rather prefer to die first. All the teasing and petty cruelty did accomplish one thing, I suppose. It made me a total bitch when it comes to dealing with mean people.

@NewsBunny: No, you're right. I'm probably going to get flamed for this, but I understand why these kids feel so ailienated. They made a horrible decision but when I hear about a kid snapping and shooting up a school I don't doubt for a second that the kid was relentlessly tortured every day by bullies. It wasn't the video games or whatever, it was a combination of feeling hopeless and alone, most of the time compounded with absent parents and mental illness.

I got slammed in a locker in 7th grade, said I had bugs in my hair, constantly laughed at, considered suicide. How did I stop being bullied? Got a haircut, an eating disorder, contacts, and befriended the girls who talked shit about me! They STILL talked shit about me, but at least I wasn't getting slammed in lockers.

The same things I like about jezebel--outspoken, feminist opinions, intelligence--are the same qualities that got my ass kicked in seventh grade. Insecure kids, especially in white upper middle class towns, will kick the ass of those that are different. Bullies are insecure, small minded fuck twits that get off on watching someone else suffer.

Am I still a little bitter? At least I was a theatre major in college!

The thing that pisses me off most, is that bullying is as old as the hills, we all know how bullies operate (especially school administrators!), and IT STILL HAPPENS! And the kids who are being picked on are treated by the people in power as if they are exaggerating, being dramatic, etc.

And then of course, as in my kids school, they have "No Bullying Zones"... shouldn't the whole school be a "No Bullying Zone"!!!!! They put up posters, have kids sign statements, plaster slogans on everything and think that will stop the problem.

and i KNOW there are some bullies that read jezebel, i'm just seeing if they have the balls to out themselves. and i hope they don't use the lame excuse that they were just following the crowd.

and i KNOW there are some girl bullies that read jezebel, i'm just seeing if they have the balls to out themselves. and i hope they don't use the lame excuse that they were just following the crowd.

i was never bullied TOO much but i most def tried to befriend all the bullied kids. I'm hoping i made someone's life a little less horrible.

On an unrelated note, does anyone occasionally phone their parents to ask how your former classmates are doing? Out of nothing but vindictive passive-aggressive schadenfreude? Sometimes when I'm feeling down I call Mom to ask what my high school nemesises (nemeses?) are up to. And yes, some of them were bullies. I work in NYC at a kickass job. I live with a great guy. I have great hobbies that I love and a great network of friends to share them with.

The folks who bullied me? Plenty of them work minimum wage in my tiny Midwestern hometown.

It never fails to cheer me up.

I am a dick.

I used to get teased mercilessly in high school. When I was a freshmen a couple of kids caught a glimpse of my junk in the locker room and started calling me "Double D." It was short for "Donkey Dick." Of course they told a bunch of other people about it and the nickname caugh