The first lady was right about bullying — we have to act

First Lady Melania Trump devoted her first term to the problem of bullying — and she had a good point.

If that wasn’t clear before, it’s certainly clear now, after the shocking death of 17-year-old Xavier Nungaray, the Benjamin Franklin High School student who threw himself over the railing of a building after a fight with a classmate.

Worse yet, Nungaray died in front of perhaps dozens of witnesses, including children as well as teachers. They will never be able to forget what they saw. 

Someone was filming a video — as happens so often nowadays — and captured the entire tragic event.

That video will be useful for forensic purposes, as police probe what happened. Local prosecutors could even be planning to file criminal charges, the California Post reported.

But aside from criminal responsibility, there is the matter of social responsibility.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

How could this have been allowed to happen?

How could a child come to feel so desperate that he would leap over a railing, without warning?

We know that another student had just punched him and taunted him, and called him names.

What we don’t know is why that affected him so badly. 

It looks like classic bullying, from the video.

We don’t know enough to draw definitive conclusions. But no child should ever be punched at school. And no child should ever feel that the only way out of a difficult social situation is to end life itself.

There are going to be tough questions in the coming days — for teachers, for administrators, and for parents at the school. 

No doubt, there will be grief counselors, and clergy, and psychologists. And not just this week, or the next.

A tragic death is over in a moment, but the pain it leaves behind can last for years.

As the hard work of providing comfort continues, both for a devastated family and a shattered community, we will have to start asking what we can do to prevent the next death.

The first lady had an answer: Be Best.

That’s not just something for individuals to do. It’s something for all of us to make possible.

We have to recognize that there is incredible potential deep inside each child — potential that can enrich all of us.

We have to understand why some children struggle to develop that potential — and why some bully others.

We have to act. Before the next child is gone.