Is bullying really the cause of someone’s suicide or are other variables involved?

My heart goes out to the parents of children who commit suicide, but I’m disturbed by the rush to pass bullying legislation across the country.  It seems the press, parents and schools are quick to diagnose and assign blame for suicides only to bullying.

But is that the case?

Why is it some kids who are targets of these “bullies” ignore them and go about their day, while others commit suicide?  Is it the bully was “off” that day and didn’t bully as well?  Or could their be some other variables involved?

According to suicide.org, over 90% of people committing suicide have a mental illness at the time of death.  And the number 1 reason people commit suicide is untreated depression.

Do we want to pass legislation that restricts our free expression because a depressed person with mental illness takes their own life?  While politically and emotionally popular, it sounds like practical folly.

And really, what is bullying?

“Bullying is generally defined as an intentional act that causes harm to others, and may involve verbal harassment, verbal or non-verbal threats, physical assault, stalking, or other methods of coercion such as manipulation, blackmail, or extortion. It is aggressive behavior that intends to hurt, threaten or frighten another person. An imbalance of power between the aggressor and the victim is often involved. Bullying occurs in a variety of contexts, such as schools, workplaces, political or military settings, and others.” (read more details here)

From the above definition, the biggest bully is the government.  You could add the radical environmentalist, pro-lifers, anti-abortion crowd, GLAAD, PETA, Focus on the Family and numerous other organizations.  And what about the anti-bullying movement?  Aren’t they bullying the rest of us into accepting their restrictive legislation?

Who decides who’s a bully and who is not?  Who decides whether a suicide was the result of bullying, or bad parenting or just someone with a mental disorder taking their own life?

Let’s teach this instead; if you don’t like the way you’re being treated by someone(s), address it with them, if they don’t stop, address it with others.  But bullying is such a nebulous “crime” that it will quickly be used to charge anyone who uses any emotion in addressing anyone else.

Much like “one person’s freedom fighter is another person’s terrorist,” we’re about to see the population of “bullies” explode in this country.  Yet, none of the future victims is getting any empowerment training, nor is their mental depression being addressed.