Nineteen Minutes: Bullying and School Violence
By .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on June 18, 2009
“In Peter’s case, I saw an extreme emotional vulnerability, which, in fact, was the reason he was teased. Peter didn’t play by the codes of boys. He wasn’t a big athlete. He wasn’t tough. He was sensitive. And difference is not always respected – particularly when you’re a teenager. Adolescence is about fitting in, not standing out.”
-Nineteen Minutes
When you hear the mention of Columbine or Virginia Tech, what are the first two words that pop into your head? School shooting. It is a sad reality that all schools, no matter size or location, must take safety precautions against the threat of a school shooting. Jodi Picoult, an author famous for writing about controversial and prevalent issues in society, writes about a high school shooting that takes place in a small New Hampshire town in her novel, Nineteen Minutes. By writing from the perspective of the shooter, the victims, and other members of the community, Picoult goes beyond the statistics and offers a complete picture of the events that lead up to the shooting and its aftermath. Interestingly enough, Picoult presents the story so that the reader sympathizes with the shooter, Peter, who is bullied terribly from kindergarten through high school and is driven to seek revenge. It leaves the reader pondering, who is really the victim?
Picoult’s portrayal of how a lifetime of bullying can lead someone to commit such a violent act is a written testimony of the harmful effects of bullying. Rightfully so, Picoult also uses this story to call attention to the social issues that children and adolescents deal with in school, as well as point out how bullying is often ignored by teachers and parents, allowing the problem to worsen over time. Nineteen Minutes is an emotional and riveting book that can be read by both adolescents and adults to get a look into the life of a bullied teenager and the lengths he is willing to go to make it all stop.
It is important to teach kids, from a young age, that bullying has detrimental and lifelong effects, and can result in violence. I think that Nineteen Minutes would be a great addition to any high school classroom or library in order to open up discussion about sensitive subjects such as social cliques, bullying, and school violence. To further address the issue of bullying and violence in schools, there are great resources available through Jodi Picoult and the recently launched Bully Bust 2009 campaign. In Nineteen Minutes, no one is willing to take responsibility for causing Peter’s actions. What responsibility do you have, as a student, teacher, or parent, to reach out and help a struggling student who is bullied?
