Posted on 02/11/2013 8:38:33 PM PST by chessplayer
One of the main barriers to putting in place anti-bullying policies in middle schools is the simple fact that middle-schoolers think bullies are cool. A recent study of 2,000 students at 11 middle schools around Los Angeles found that when students were asked to identify their most respected peers and those engaging in nasty behavior, the lists were often quite similar.
(Excerpt) Read more at educationnews.org ...
That’s how it used to be. A bully or group of them would usually pick on the wrong person or they would make too many enemies and the bullied would band together and teach the thugs the error of their ways. Today nobody is really held responsible for their actions, and even worse thug culture is glorified. The strong eat the weak. Whatever happened to the Golden Rule?
Like many mammals, there is a lot of snarling, growling and nipping. But rarely any fatal damage done when we're pups.
To pretend this jockeying for rank in the pack (bullying) doesn't take place is to ignore reality.
As a victim of Bullies in school, I think back at all that happened and realize it made me the person I am today. Bullies serve a function, of sorts, they make us stronger, they make us tougher, they make us survivors. Some are not able to handle the pressure and that must be due to parents, religious leaders, friends, etc... Bullies will be with us always, let us try to deal with it rather than outlaw it—because like prostitution, we will have it with us always.
Yep...and it doesn’t just end upon graduation; bullies are everywhere in an adult’s life too. I’ve met more than my share in the corporate world. Of course, “standing up” to them now will usually get you fired...lol.
There is truth to this. The decision to fight back against a bully is a defining moment in many a boy’s transition to manhood. Unlike the movies, you may well STILL get the snot beaten out of you, but the bully will probably move on to an easier target. So....mission accomplished.
IMHO, the kids who are sufficiently strong and big enough a$$holes to harass the weaker ones will always be seen as “cool”, I think its programmed into our genes and probably had more of a point when we were hunter-gatherers. Is it fair or right? No. But many things in life aren’t fair. The important skill is being able to deal with, and overcome, the unfairness.
You’ll get no argument from me - I often wonder how these kids are going to make out in the real world after school when the anti-bully police aren’t around to hold their hands - the first few years in a job or the military are going to provide rude awakenings for many of them.......
A building site job with an asshat attitude will get them fired within 1 hour.
Dittos for military training.
They will learn that boss is boss and work is work. If they never learned a skill, they don’t have a chance.
God isn’t tolerant with the able and lazy.
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