"He was such a quiet kid."

"Didn't seem like the type to cause trouble."

"We have no idea what would make him do something like this."

Finally, somebody remembers that the kid with the gun had been taunted a lot--often on a daily basis--before all of this took place.

A little lip-service is given about teaching kids not to taunt other kids because they were seen as "different" in one or more ways.

In time, though, the same thing begins to happen all over again.

While certain kids are unmercifully taunted, those who are supposed to be adults in charge almost seem to nod and wink--until a tragedy like this happens.

There's a touching piece describing the feelings of a son towards his father during different stages of his life. The son begins by thinking that there's no other man who knows more than his dad does. By the time he's a teen-ager, he sees his dad as completely clueless. In time, though, he comes around to thinking that it's wise to get his dad's take on a situation before deciding what to do. At the end, he's thinking about his dad (now deceased) and how he misses the wisdom he imparted.

It's funny how time causes you to change your views about somebody.

When kids decide to taunt another kid to his/her breaking-point, they should stop to consider their actions.

Obviously, there's the danger of driving such a person over-the-edge with the result being a bloodbath at school or a quiet suicide at home.

Besides, it's just not very nice--to say the least--to intentionally set out to make another human being's life miserable.

But there's another thing to consider, too. Just as the dad was perceived in different ways by his son over the years, the one you laugh at and taunt today might capture your respect years later.

Even if this doesn't turn out to be so, no child should have to put up with excessive taunting day after day just for showing up at school.

Which brings me to the story of Grant Walker.

Grant was a very nice and intelligent young teen. He wasn't a troublemaker--yet, he was never afraid to speak his mind.

This open way of communicating was, in fact, what made him end up getting laughed at during class one day.

He wasn't too bad looking of a guy, for the most part--even though he didn't have those typical movie-star/jock looks that made the girls all swoon over him.

However, he did have some sort of birth-defect that left him with severe vision problems, and you could tell this by looking at his crossed-eyes.

This left the first-glance impression that his IQ wasn't especially high.

It wasn't really thought to be "cool" to hang around with him.

Fortunately, Grant didn't have to put up with constant taunting, because it was a different time back when he was going to school. He and my dad were classmates, graduating with the Class of 1935. The kind of taunting some of these kids go through today would have been stopped, had it taken place.

Therefore, Grant grew up and earned a place of respect in the world.

However, that didn't stop his classmates from laughing that day in class and telling him that he'd really said something stupid.

Are you curious about what he said?

Grant Walker said that there would come a day when reproduction would be controlled by simply taking a pill.

Is anybody laughing now?