Bullying

Nadai

Active Member
I'm a mother of two and my oldest will start school in August. Some people have asked me if I'm worried about the bullying problem and I was even invited to a workshop to help parents and their children deal with bullying, but I honestly don't see the point. I will admit I wasn't the nicest kid in school and I knew my fare share of bullies, but I never thought of hurting myself or others because of them and I never heard of anyone else doing it either.
Do you think that these bullies are really so much different than they were in the 70s, 80s, or 90s? Why is this problem making it so much harder for kids to go to school? Or do you think that the bully problem is being blown out of proportion by parents and media?
 

magickz

Active Member
I think its a little of both and this morning I read an article that noted a teacher who in her own way, was bullying her students to try new things. To me that is much worse than a child doing it, most kids are following an example and at the start do not really know any better. An adult does.
 

Pegasus

Member
Bullying, and peer pressure can all add up to a problem with low self-esteem. Teenage years are especially tough because of so many changes, then get on the wrong side of a bully and watch the problems begin. Bullying is malicious and hurtful. When I went to school, I knew of a few people that suffered from being picked on. One developed an eating disorder, and one dabbled with drugs. So, I must say that I did know of some people that were hurt by the actions of others. Hopefully, by raising the awareness level to this problem, and not tolerating it, people can learn to communicate in a better manner towards one another.
 

magickz

Active Member
I am in total agreement there. A family member had six kids, right now her 3rd oldest is having the issues with peers and its showing in her random facebook posts that tend to be a little odd. She has some of us worried and while shes not a bully or being bullied too many things just do not add up. Things have changed a great deal since I was in school.
 

cherub

New Member
I think it's worse than ever and I'm glad people are taking a stand and learning how not to be a bystander. We need to talk to our kids and keep a close eye on their online accounts.
 

RLynn

Active Member
I think bullies are often that way because they are bullied or abused at home. They can't get back at their parents, so they take it out on others. It is still inexcusable. The problem is probably no worse nowadays than it was in the past; people just looked the other way because they didn't know how to deal with it. I'm glad it is finally getting media attention. There needs to be an all out effort to eradicate bullying.
 

Bobby Givens

New Member
I think bullying in schools really is a problem, not one that is hyped up. I just watched a hidden camera special on it the other day as a matter of fact. They had a group of kids some actors and some not doing activities such as sports or shopping. One of the actors would play the victim and a few of the others would play the bullies and the alarming fact was that the real kids went along with what the bullies were doing for the most part to protect themselves from being bullied. I think it's great that they are raising awareness to this problem.
 

Wotan

Member
I think the problem of bullying is the same as the problem with public fights. it is only being talked about more now because it is being captured on camera more. I am in my 12th year of school and aside from a few times I am rarely bullied. This could however be because I make sure I only ever get bullied by that bully once. As for injuring themselfs, it depends on the child. I am far to happy to ever consider injuring myself and I am rather quit witted so if someone makes a comment I make one back just as quick, I can see how people who are not able to do that could get depressed as it is never fun to be defencles. If your children have lots of friends and are not acting depressed bullying is probably not a problem
 

RLynn

Active Member
I was usually the smallest guy in my class at school until I was 14 or 15 and had a growth spurt, so naturally I was an easy target for bullies. It was extremely unpleasant, but I also had a lot of friends, which mitigated the situation, as I was only bullied when I was alone. I have read a lot of misinformation from so-called experts which blames bullying more on the victim than on the bullies. That is a totally misleading generalization, as bullying may be due to a characteristic of the victim which is not the fault of the victim.
 

LegendofJoe

Active Member
There was some study I heard many years ago concerning bullies. He said that it is not true that bullies are suffering from low self-esteem deep down.
Bullies actually are self-confident. It is this that makes them feel superior.
I don't know if this view is held today.
I never felt that bullies were suffering from some insecurity; it always struck me that it was their arrogant self-assurance that made them into assholes.
 

Wotan

Member
Yeah bull-crap they are suffering from low self asteem. if someone bullies you and you either beat them (either physicaly or emotionaly) they will never bully you again (or get their friends and kick the crap out of you (this can be avoided if you have friends that are 6foot 5 rugy players). Either way, if you make them feel like the little worms they are, they stop being dick heads because they are no longer secure and in control of the situation. Low self esteem ruins bullies. I learnt this in year 2, some dick kept steeling my cookies so my dearest mother filled the cream with chillie powder, the whole class had good fun laughing our collective arses off as the little SOB struggled to comprehend why his mouth was suddenly burning with the intencity that only Fárbauti could muster.
 

RLynn

Active Member
Once at summer camp, a cousin of mine (who worked out with weights every day) saw a guy trying to push me around. He intervened and beat the holy crap out of the guy. Nary a problem thereafter.
 

ApolloPriestess

New Member
I was bullied horribly in middle school, this was in the 90's. I would have half a class ganging up on me, I had spit wads spit at me, more than once when it was found out I liked a boy in class I never heard the end of it and had endless streams of people telling me how ugly I was, how no guy would ever want to date me, one guy followed me through the entire hallway saying these kinds of things to me and he'd pull on my bag or push me when I wasn't giving him a reaction, to boot I would go home and get almost the same treatment from my brother; it was hell. Bullying isn't a matter of just calling people names anymore, it's nothing short of harassment and slander, crimes that adults have protection from by the law; I'm so glad to see that courts are doing more in cases of bullying. In all honesty I don't think there's such thing has having too much preparation in preventing it.
 

LegendofJoe

Active Member
My little niece likes this movie called Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
There are scenes of bullying, but it is treated with humor and just
"part of growing up."
I resented it. I explained to her that in real life it is not funny to get
routinely picked on or beat up.
What are these kids watching these days? because I don't have kids of my own.
 

Nadai

Active Member
My little niece likes this movie called Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
There are scenes of bullying, but it is treated with humor and just
"part of growing up."
I resented it. I explained to her that in real life it is not funny to get
routinely picked on or beat up.
What are these kids watching these days? because I don't have kids of my own.
I don't care for the types of shows on television now, especially shows that come on cartoon network and nickelodeon, and don't get me started on reality tv! Those stations are supposed to be for kids (aside from adult swim) but they show all types of things now with adult content especially the non-animated shows. Some of them have questionable language, not cursing, but words that obviously substitute for other words. They talk about cheating in relationships like it's no big deal. The age of watching family values on television is over. I watch a show once, and if it isn't talking about anything that I think they should be talking about, I don't let my kids watch them, I don't even let the channel come to a stop on those shows.
 
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