A recent story on the USA Today website by Mike James described how an 18 boy in a New York City high school fatally stabbed a 15 year old boy and gravely wounded another. The stabbing took place in a classroom during school hours and was directly attributed to bullying. Andi Katsina, author of 'Phat Girl And The Bullies', recently issued a statement about this event. The statement read in part:
"This latest result of bullying, the murder of one youngster, near death of another and certain incarceration of the bullying victim, has been described by an official as an 'unfathomable incident'. This is nonsense, it is totally fathomable. What is unfathomable is the fact that a person in authority is unable to comprehend the established symptoms of continuous school bullying, all described in detail in a great many academic reports, papers and books published within the last twelve or more years. More to the point, it does not take an academic to fathom the likelihood that some school students, feeling bullied to the edge of suicide, rather than kill themselves, may well take it into their own hands to viciously attack other students they perceive, whether rationally or not, to be a threat.
"Bullying is raging through the schools system in many countries. Amongst the symptoms of school bullying, sometimes the bullied child commits suicide to escape the pain, sometimes the victim withdraws to become isolated and depressed, infrequently the victim of bullying pushes back, but as most victims are left to face the dread situation of being bullied by themselves, their actions of violent retaliation are grossly misguided and can lead to the most horrific consequences. The degree of violence varies, but is known to have led to mass shootings.
"Sadly, in this instance, the violence perpetrated by the victim of school bullying culminated in a double stabbing with one fatality. Would this have happened if a zero tolerance protocol had been instituted a generation ago? Will outbursts of violence of a similar nature occur again leading to the deaths of more school children, if we continue not to enforce a zero tolerance protocol in our schools?"
The full statement can be viewed at http://www.andikatsina.com/blog.
'Phat Girl and The Bullies', turns the traditional approach to bully situations on its head. This gritty dark fantasy tale follows a girl bullied to edge of suicide, as she successfully etches out a journey of personal growth from a place of extreme despair. Her visits to an alternate world, a reflection of her own world, provides guided realizations wherein she finds the strength, and know how, to not only put an end to her own bully situation, but become a young advocate promoting the school anti-bullying policy and more. Her goal is to get readers to stand strong against teen suicide and school bullying.
Katsina's latest book offers parents, grandparents and educators an opportunity to take a strong stand against bullying. The book makes an ideal gift for kids, and provides educators with an exceptional tool to help develop solutions, in or out of the classroom.
Andi Katsina is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below or by email at info@theindieoracle.com. 'Phat Girl And The Bullies' is available at online retailers. More information is available at her website at http://www.andikatsina.com.
About Andi Katsina:
Andi Katsina began writing at age 9, spending hours losing herself in writing plays as a way of escaping the dread situation that was life in an orphanage. Six years and dozens of plays later, she had to give up writing to concentrate on surviving. Picking up her pen once more, almost twenty years ago. . . she began writing under her own name in 2006. She has written over twenty books.
Contact:
Andi Katsina
info@theindieoracle.com
http://www.andikatsina.com
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