Pubdate: Sat, 21 Jun 2014
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2014 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Ioan Grillo
Page: WD3

MEXICO'S GOT A BULLYING PROBLEM. BLAME THE CARTELS?

MEXICO CITY- As the last class was finishing at the school in
northeast Mexico, the four pupils grabbed 12-year-old Hector Alejandro
Mendez by his arms and legs and swung him, banging his head against
the wall.

Mendez - "Mini," to his friends - made it home, where he told his
mother about the assault before losing consciousness.

He died a week later. The injuries had caused fatal bleeding in his
brain.

At his funeral, weeping family and friends wore white T-shirts with
messages to the departed child. "Alejandro, we always love you," said
the epistle from his mother. "Justice for my baby."

Even in a country that suffered more than 18,000 murders last year,
the death on May 20 unleashed shock waves of grief and anger that have
provoked a concerted debate about violent bullying and how to deal
with it.

President Enrique Pena Nieto met with Mendez's parents, lawmakers have
filed two new bills on the issue and hundred of celebrities - from pop
diva Thalia to football striker Javier Hernandez - have joined an
anti-bullying campaign, many using the phrase "bullying is not a game."

Amid the furor, educators, psychologists and politicians are grappling
with a painful question: has the cartel bloodshed that has ravaged
Mexico made school kids more violent?

Last month's assault took place in Tamaulipas, a state just over the
Texas border that has suffered some of the worst violence in the
country, including massacres, firefights, car bombings and
decapitations.

There have also been high-profile bullying incidents in other
cartel-dominated cities such as Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana, where a
child who had a chemical thrown in his face at school in May could go
permanently blind.

"Without doubt, there is a link between the violence in society and
the violence in schools," said Rep. Veronica Juarez, who has helped
draft the anti-bullying bills.

"The daily murders, the glorification of criminals, all this has made
violence seem normal.

"We have stopped being shocked by it. And children grow up with
this."

Cartel-related violence exploded in Mexico from 2008, partly in
response to a military crackdown by then-president Felipe Calderon.
There have been more than 70,000 drug-related killings in the
following six years - or during half the short life of Hector Mendez.

The death toll is finally falling, with 13 per cent fewer homicides
reported in the first four months of 2014, compared to the same period
last year, but Pena Nieto concedes there is still a big challenge ahead.

Thousands of victims have been shot in broad daylight, leaving corpses
in the sight of children.

Many classes have been stopped because of gunfire. In Michoacan state,
more than 800 schools have suspended lessons this year alone because
of violence outside their gates.

Thousands of students also have parents who have been killed or
arrested in connection with the narco violence. Last year in Jalisco
state, two 15-year-old pupils were murdered by cartel thugs because
the teenagers had bullied the son of a kingpin, according to the state
prosecutor.

Psychologist Samantha Urzua, who works with adolescents, is convinced
the heavy bloodshed has made teenagers more violent.

"There is a culture where children look up to the most aggressive,
most violent among their peers," Urzua said.

"This has been a growing problem for years. It took a child to fall in
the hole before we try and cover the well," she said, citing a Mexican
saying.

Mexico's National Human Rights Commission has also joined
anti-bullying efforts, pointing to a dramatic rise in complaints it
has received over the issue. More than 1,000 complaints of bullying
were filed in 2013, compared to just 50 in 2000.

However, investigators who try to quantify bullying have long found it
hard to come up with reliable comparative statistics.

Rising complaints about bullying could also reflect greater awareness
of the issue. The term itself has only recently become popular in
Mexico, where the English word is used.

It is difficult to know exactly how much the cartel bloodshed in
Tamaulipas may have affected the four boys who smashed Hector Mendez's
head against the wall.

One of them told a Mexican newspaper it was a game, and they panicked
when they saw him vomit blood.

State prosecutors have said the children cannot be sent to prison
because they are under 14. However, they are looking at charging the
teacher and other school employees with being accessories to murder.

Mendez's parents are among those calling for the teacher to be locked
up for allowing the violent bullying.

"I would not like another mother to go through what I am going
through. I wouldn't like this teacher giving classes in another school
and denying help to a child who needs it," Rebeca Ramirez said on
Mexico's Milenio TV.

"I am devastated. I have cried so much that my eyes have no tears. I
feel like I am gone with my son."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt