On February 12 a
gay eighth-grade student in Oxnard, Calif.. lay in
a pool of his own blood in his school's computer lab as
his attacker, a classmate, ran out of the room and off
campus. John Ireland explores the undeniable
feeling that Lawrence King took the bullet for every
gay teenager.
On Tuesday
morning of this week, an eighth-grade student in Oxnard,
Calif., sat in front of a monitor in the school computer
lab. Within a few minutes, he would lie dying on the
floor in a pool of his own blood as his attacker, a
classmate, ran out of the room and off campus.
Unlike most boys
his age, Lawrence King did not seek to blend in. Many of
us remember junior high as our most harrowing years of peer
pressure and social uncertainty, no matter what crowd
we fit into -- nerd, jock, pep squad, orchestra, or
somewhere in between. At 15 years old, King dressed
effeminately, wore makeup and fingernail polish, and told
people he was gay.
School officials
knew that King had been bullied. They had attempted,
unsuccessfully, to contain and prevent the tension on campus
that followed him around. A police spokesman said
there had been, between these two students, some
“bad blood…”
Puberty is a time
when boys learn about the young men they will become.
Junior high is a crucible of adult forces. It's a microcosm
of society with built-in artificial boundaries
designed to give a taste of responsibility but
governed by adults who can step in when the
preadolescent brain is overwhelmed -- when it is overruled
by more base instincts.
While teachers
and texts introduce the lessons of free speech and
individual freedoms, the children experiment with behavior,
identity, and appearance in a thousand different ways.
They sense and feel out the edges between comfort and
discomfort, eventually finding the bounds that will
define their character. Enforcement comes in the form of
strict rules, visits to the vice principal’s
office, and after-school detention.
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John Ireland is an elementary school administrator
in Los Angeles.