I do my student teaching in Paris, KY. At Paris High School yesterday, there was assembly with a very important guest. I forgot his first name, but he was the uncle of Rachel Scott who was the first victim of the Columbine High School shooting 11 years ago.

He talked about Rachel's story. She was 17 years old on the day of her death at Columbine. She was the type of student who reached out to the disabled, the bullied, and the new students at school because of her faith in Christianity.

Mr. Scott confirmed that the two gunmen, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, were in fact bullied. The bullying they had to endure was part of what motivated their decision. He then went on to say that they were still in the wrong because innocent people died. If their bombs had detonated then at least 200 people would have been killed, innocent or bully. Another influence was Hitler. These two young men idolized Hitler's influence. It's no coincidence that this massacre took place on Hitler's birthday, 4/20. They were also motivated by violent music and video games.

Things like this make you wonder what you really do to a person when you call him or her an idiot, stupid, retarded, ***, loser, etc. or when you post unkind things on your facebook. I've been just as guilty as simply calling someone an unkind name. What do you really do to someone when you do that? Responsible adults, how responsible are you when you witness a student or students bothering another student (s)? Hopefully responsible enough to stop it. If not, then not only do you do the victim of bullying an injustice; you do the world an injustice. What if the victim decides he or she has had enough and kills him or herself or even other people who may have had nothing to do with it?

If the two gunmen were alive today, they should be locked up in a prison cell for their actions. They should also receive counseling while they were at it.

Rachel Scott and her younger brother Craig had a major argument the day of the shooting on their way to school. When Craig got out of the car and took a look at her, little did he know that it would be the last time he would look at her alive. Try to show love toward your loved ones. Life is too short for fussing, fighting, and bickering. A few hours later, Craig was in the library and heard what he thought were firecrackers going off outside the school building but it was his sister being murdered with 5 shots. The 2 gun men then came to the library and that was where the most intense of the shooting took place. Craig had to witness his best friends and class mates being murdered and injured by gun shots. He had both guns pointed at him but something interrupted the two gunmen I think.

Think of what bullying does to people. It deranged these two young men and drove them to cause the worst high school shooting in the US.

Visit Rachel's Challenge - In Memory of Rachel Scott