Merepeka Raukawa-Tait: Ginns can't hurt anyone now

You wouldn't think they are interlinked. The schoolgirl from Helensville who, along with her friends, picked on and hit another student at her school and the man who shot his ex-partner as she pulled up outside the Tokoroa Police Station on Saturday.

They are both the actions of despicable bullies - one just starting her journey of total indifference to others and the other a seasoned lowlife with years of getting away with it behind him.

They are cowards, not just bullies. They never pick on anyone likely to retaliate and they know who to target.

I've had enough of people like them. Enough of seeing people hurt and killed most weeks by despicable cowards. They are making people's lives a living hell and need to be stopped.

I'm pleased Jamie Ginns, the shooter, is dead and I can't quite believe I would say such a thing.

Good job. He can't hurt anyone else ever again. He won't get another chance to hogtie a woman and severely beat her up.

Bullies can never be stopped early enough, as soon as they start showing bullying signs. They are allowed to get away with their abusive behaviour from their early years.

People don't become vile and hateful towards everyone and everything around them overnight. A pattern of abuse and bullying takes years to perfect.

And this is where we come in - families, friends, workmates and neighbours.

We would have crossed paths with such depraved people from time to time and either walked away or put up a pretty poor show in challenging their behaviour. We unwittingly became the enablers for their behaviour to continue.

We should have done better in calling these cowards out. It's fear for our own safety that holds us back but, maybe, we should do as the saying goes "feel that fear and do it anyway".

Easy to say, I know, but we have to start somewhere. There are two instances where I hope I would be brave and show this kind of fearlessness. When any police officer was being dealt to by a group of thugs. You know the type; they are full of themselves when in a group situation, but meek and mild when untanked and on their own. It's not that I want to be particularly protective of police officers, and let's be honest they would probably insist that I "keep out of this", it's just that I can't stand to see uneven odds.

While I might grumble about some police actions from time to time, I do have immense respect for the work they do. Who would be a police officer these days, when you have to deal with the likes of Jamie Ginns?

And I hope I would never shirk from helping a child who was being abused too, either verbally or physically. They have to know the majority of adults are not abusers. We will step up and help.

That's why I wouldn't want to see the book thrown at the mother of the Kaipara College (Helensville) schoolgirl who appeared in court for smacking the ringleader of the three girls who assaulted her daughter. What's a mother to do? Stand there and be laughed at?

The ringleader might think twice before she starts picking on the next person. But probably not. The mother was right and those who say we shouldn't take the law into our own hands need to realise people only resort to such actions when they see no way out.

The law has proved to be pretty ineffective in this area.

Schools themselves don't address bullying as they should. Parents tell me that when they complain they are assured the assault on their child was a one off, that bullying is rare in the school and has been addressed.

But the children tell another story. They know they are just another slap or shove away if they run into the bully and their mates when no one else is around.

If someone doesn't support the bullying ringleader from Kaitaia to change her ways, I may be saying "good job" when I read about her in the paper.

To save all the misery she is likely to cause over the years, fast forward has some appeal.