This resonated with me on a very deep level.

I was bullied consistently from the time I was nine years old in school. Not only did the staff often turn a blind eye, they just as often encouraged it.

Because I was different. Because I cared more about books and reading and learning than football or whatever mindless thing the jocks were into. Because I wasn't "one of them".

Because of my deeply christian upbringing, I turned the other cheek. Again and again and again.

Eventually, you run out of cheeks. Then you run out of fucks to give. Then you turn feral.

I learned to fight. I learned it the hard way. By being beaten so many times that I had no choice. I was not a big kid. I'm not a big man, though I'm tall for my generation.

Nobody, and I mean fucking NOBODY ever illustrated to me that most of those attacking me weren't serious. That talk went on behind my back after I put somebody's arm on backwards.

Never, not once, was the aggressor punished. I was, frequently, and the incidents usually happened under the eyes of the staff. Bullies, contrary to popular bullshit, are always the popular kids. Both with other kids and especially with the staff.

I know some jackass will say "not all schools..."

Bullshit. All schools. I'm the son of an electrician. We changed houses and cities more times than I can count while I was growing up. No, that's not true. It's burned into my memory. 9 schools, seven states, the only difference was the degree. In some, it was apathy, in many (especially in the midwest), it was active participation by explicit or implicit permission. The Bullies were the golden children. The geeks were fair game.

My own shame at having violent thoughts is just about all that kept me from getting my gun (I had one for the last few years) and ending a number of people who I still think would not be missed by society.

I am entirely in favor of public education. I'll continue to advocate for it until we either get it or the country falls. What we have now, does not count. It's a minimum security prison for the youth and a "free" daycare for the overworked adults. You can't claim to have a system of public education that teaches how to (hopefully) survive against an active shooter while simultaneously turning out half the student as illiterate morons.

What's worse, having looked into the history of public education in the United States, this very much looks to be working according to design.

I homeschool my kids, and use a lot of outside resources to do it. It's not, in my opinion, as good an education as they would get from a good school. But since I'm not in Europe, I can't seem to find any of those.

And I don't have to worry about them coming home in a bag.