Todd and
Pam Gunter turned their son into police when they discovered a hit-list
he'd made last year of school bullies he intended to harm.
A
year later, the couple is speaking out about the discovery of their
teen son's hit list that rocked Rigby, Idaho and turned them into
crusaders for more mental health resources and education in America's
schools.
'The
reason we tell our story isn't so that people will look differently on
us. We were also looking for the solutions,' Todd recently told KSL.
Horrified parents: Todd and Pam Gunter turned
their son into police when they discovered a hit-list he'd made last
year of school bullies he intended to harm
The Gunters believe the solution is in prevention through education and school-based mental health resources.
After their son plot was uncovered by fellow parents, the Gunters were flabbergasted.
'My first reaction was the same as any parent would be — "you've got the wrong child,"' Todd recalled.
'It's our son, what would change our son, a kind, generous, friendly, child to do something so cruel and mean. And I couldn't understand at what point he would have had to have reached to have gone to those drastic measures,' said Pam Gunter told KIDK.
When the disbelief wore off, they turned the boy in to authorities and sought out professional advice.
It
was then that a sociologist suggested that it was perhaps the couples'
unwillingness to display any sort of confict in front of their children
that led him to feel so helpless when faced with it at school.
The
popular boy who'd run for class president and always had lots of
friends was turned to violence after just a week of taunting, it was
later revealed.
Snapped: After a week of bullying, the boy
snapped because--according to mental health professionals--he didn't
have the training at home or at school on how to deal with difficult
people and circumstances
'We do have disagreements, but we don't openly fight,' Pam told KSL.
‘This
is a juvenile reacting to that bullying, trying to take matters into
his own hands,’ said Robin Dunn, Jefferson County prosecutor.
Police said bullying led to the fight started by the boy.
Police
found a bag containing guns, ammunition, and knives. Investigators
believe no one else was involved in planning the possible attack.
Keith
Hammon, Rigby’s police chief, said a police officer was looking into
reports of bullying at the school before the parents reported their
concerns. ‘The officer felt that there was more to what was going on
with this young man and decided he needed to be evaluated,’ Hammon said.
The
boy was held at the St. Anthony Five County Detention and Youth
Rehabilitation Center, where he underwent mental health evaluations and
treatment.
Included
were classes on how to deal with difficult people and situations. The
Gunters now believe such classes should be included in curricula at
schools everywhere.
As their son settles into a new school, the Gunters have developed a pilot program for dealing with bullying.
'You
can't go through an experience like this and close your eyes and walk
away from it. You have to take it and you have to take it, take
everything you've learned and do everything in your power and control to
make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else," said Pam Gunter told KIDK.
Education: The boy no longer attends Rigby
Middle, but his parents are pushing for his old school, and schools in
general, to create anti-bullying education programs to prevent
circumstances like the one they endured
