What kind of sick depraved world do we live in where bullies like this exist?

[Ronin13]

So while on lunch today I got a stark and sad reminder of why I got into the law enforcement profession... While eating my lunch in my car, I had the Glenn Beck Program on the radio. Glenn told the story of Shea Shawhan, an 18 year old special needs girl in a Plano, TX high school who suffered a brain injury at birth and while looks like a normal 18 year old, she has the mental capacity of an 8 year old. The details of her being bullied are gut wrenching, saddening, angering, and brought tears to my eyes as Glenn described the awful, vile texts she gets constantly from anonymous numbers. Her mother has even set up a Facebook page in support of her daughter and I can't help but think, why are Plano Police and Prosecutors not seeking out these bullies and punishing them to the fullest extent allowed by law?

This sad and hurtful story reminds my why I am pursuing the career that I am, to help protect and defend victims like Shea from the evil, disgusting monsters with which we share this world. I implore everyone here to share Shea's story so we can put an end to crap like this, and I dare anyone here to read/hear this story and not get choked up... Warning, it contains quite graphic material.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013...n=ShareButtons

[Great-Kazoo]

While sad, you cannot protect them, unless alerted by friends or family. Your job is reactive. react to a 911, DV, etc call.

[Dave_L]

I also heard that segment and it made me sad. Kids are so mean and technology is NOT helping that.

[RblDiver]

why are Plano Police and Prosecutors not seeking out these bullies and punishing them to the fullest extent allowed by law?

I'll admit up-front I've not read the article yet, but I take issue with this bit of your comment. I think bullying, while a problem, shouldn't be an issue for law enforcement generally. Yeah, I know there're exceptions (harassment etc), but my personal preference is to A) teach the person being bullied to stand up for themself (harder for people like this one yes, but I'm speaking generalities), B) teach the person to let it slide off their back ("why should I care what you think" mentality), and C) return the favor to the bully (by this I mean talk to their parents, let people know who did it, etc).

[Dave_L]

C) return the favor to the bully (by this I mean talk to their parents, let people know who did it, etc).

That is not as easy as you might think. In this case, kids used apps to send text from anonymous numbers. There are social media sites that allows kids to make comments anonymously also. It's not the old school "Little johnny said it to my face" situation.

[RblDiver]

That is not as easy as you might think. In this case, kids used apps to send text from anonymous numbers. There are social media sites that allows kids to make comments anonymously also. It's not the old school "Little johnny said it to my face" situation.

True and fair enough. In this case, I still wouldn't support prosecution, but if they can get the companies to reveal their sources, so much the better.

[Ronin13]

While sad, you cannot protect them, unless alerted by friends or family. Your job is reactive. react to a 911, DV, etc call.

False, good police work relies on preventative measures just as much as reactionary measures. While most of the job is handing calls, a lot of it is just presence to deter crime.

I'll admit up-front I've not read the article yet, but I take issue with this bit of your comment. I think bullying, while a problem, shouldn't be an issue for law enforcement generally. Yeah, I know there're exceptions (harassment etc), but my personal preference is to A) teach the person being bullied to stand up for themself (harder for people like this one yes, but I'm speaking generalities), B) teach the person to let it slide off their back ("why should I care what you think" mentality), and C) return the favor to the bully (by this I mean talk to their parents, let people know who did it, etc).

You must never have been bullied growing up, or have kids that have been bullied... Some things are quite easy to say, but doing them is a completely different ball game. And I'm not talking of your typical bullying- read the article, these kids make threats of violence, rape, and murder, I would definitely investigate that and hope there is something there to give to the DA.

[blacklabel]

You must never have been bullied growing up, or have kids that have been bullied... Some things are quite easy to say, but doing them is a completely different ball game. And I'm not talking of your typical bullying- read the article, these kids make threats of violence, rape, and murder, I would definitely investigate that and hope there is something there to give to the DA.

That's not bullying, it's harassment and should be treated as such. We need to quit blurring the line between the two.

Typical bullying should be handled by the parent and used to build a strong kid. It's just another form of adversity.

[Great-Kazoo]

False, good police work relies on preventative measures just as much as reactionary measures. While most of the job is handing calls, a lot of it is just presence to deter crime.

You must never have been bullied growing up, or have kids that have been bullied... Some things are quite easy to say, but doing them is a completely different ball game. And I'm not talking of your typical bullying- read the article, these kids make threats of violence, rape, and murder, I would definitely investigate that and hope there is something there to give to the DA.

Unless you're monitoring web sites for this , you have no way if not informed, it is happening. Unless you're advocating "PreCrime" units ?


Regarding the pursuit of criminal charges I agree.

somewhat OT : When a school, mall or movie shooting happens The masses Cry Out for ACTION, NOW. What we ignore are the early phases where bullying, mutilation of animals, are present. HOWEVER in the name of MEDICAL CONFIDENTIALITY WE TURN OUR HEADS.

[cstone]

The first layer of protection for children should be their parents. If you have children, you have an obligation to provide for their needs and look out for their welfare. Good parents already know this.

On a personal level, I would not let my 8 year old child have unsupervised access to the Internet, social media, email, text, etc.., and I mean any access would be closely supervised if I deemed it necessary for such a young child to have this type of access at all.

Probably the toughest thing I've been dealing with as a parent is balancing my responsibilities to protect my children with educating and equipping them to live in the world and be self sufficient. Some parents realize that they have children who will never be self sufficient. While the job of a parent is truly never over, these parents will be working harder and longer than most. I pray for these parents and hope I never do anything to increase their workload.

The world is full of nasty and evil people. Fortunately, the truly evil are far outnumbered by the truly stupid. Even more fortunately, the truly stupid are outnumbered by the people who are decent and hard working. If I didn't believe this, I would have given up long ago.

Sheepdogs never go off duty.

Be safe.