Northampton Confronts a Crime, Cruelty

This article accentuates the everyday issues involving hate crimes, teasing, and hazing. At a  high school in Northampton called Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, Matthew Santoni a normal 15 year old student was a victim of bullying because of his eyeliner and earrings. His choice in style and image portrayed something different then every other ordinary high school student. Santoni got so fed up with the everyday taunting of his lifestyle that he allegedly stabbed Jeffrey LaMothe a 16 year old to death. This was Matthew's way of letting his feelings go since he was the type of person who kept all of his feelings bottled up inside.

This is not the only incident that has occurred in high schools, everyday something like this occurs starting from a young age in middle school. Today bullying is known as the number one killer for many middle school through high schoolers. Taunting and teasing have been in the high school culture and define the meaning of high school just as clearly as prom, geeks, and jocks does. Bullying is so common in todays society that in some ways it has become a lifestyle in our teenager years. Some people that get bullied are so used to it that they put up with the torture without trying to make a change and put a stop to every name calling tactic heard throughout the school hallways. 

Bullying is done sometimes for absolutely no reason at all, sometime it is just for the smallest reason of jealousy, the feeling of empowerment, or even just because. People who bully do not take the time to get to know their victim, they are simply just judging a book by its cover. Just because someone does not look like you on the outside doesn't mean they aren't just as sweet or even sweeter then you are. Dress comes into play because there is different subcultures and if you do not look like that specific subculture people automatically start judging you before they get to know you. For example, Lady GaGa who is admired by millions of people world wide gets bullied on a daily basis because of her unique style and image. So no matter how famous or how much money you have you are still going to get looked down upon for being different. This happens everyday, at every age, and in every country.