Recently I attended a function at a local high school. In the hall was a bulletin board full of student photos and signatures, with the theme: “Pledge not to bully.” (What if you don’t want to sign? Does it make you a passive bully?)
It just seemed very weird to me. Yeah, I’m a stone age throwback. When I was a teen, we didn’t have enough bullies to fill a bulletin board with their no-wannabes. We didn’t even think about bullies, much less design bulletin boards to showcase our disapproval.
But when you had someone who needed to be put in his place, you put him there, and if you could not, there was no shortage of people delighted to step up and do it for you.
We did not have to be counseled or warned or indoctrinated or sensitized. It was all understood from the time we first heard “Three Billy Goats Gruff.”
The OTHER half of our 'culture' is being 'sensitized' by WWF (no; not cuddly panda bears), cage fighting and video games.
Guess who is going to win!