This is a normal reaction to somebody who is deemed weird. Some of the less tolerant students will harass and bully the weird kids to try and get them in line with societal norms.
They can only get in line with the norms if they’re allowed to live. Bullies gotta get it right.
I remember we had one Chinese kid in our junior high school around 1963 and he was razzed mercilessly. I’m sure the WW II effect was still prevalent then even though he was Chinese, not Japanese. He went on to be a fantastic concert violinist.
Kids were razzed, taunted, bulled for all sorts of things — gangly, socially awkward, fat, skinny, ancestry, zits, weird music tastes, unathletic — anything out of the mainstream. It’s surprising any of us survived!
> Some of the less tolerant students will harass and bully the weird kids to try and get them in line with societal norms. <
Perhaps a small percentage of bullies are (consciously or subconsciously) trying to get the weird kid in line. But the huge majority of today’s bullies harass the weird kid solely because the weird kid is weak.
It’s not much different than kicking a sick cat just because you can.
I’m a retired public high school teacher. I saw such bullying way too often. The administrators didn’t care. And forget about fighting back. It’s not the ‘Leave It To Beaver’ days anymore. Bullies now travel in gangs. My advice to a badly bullied kid was always the same: Get out of here. Go to better school, ASAP.
Disclaimer: I taught in a big city school. So I can’t speak about suburban or rural schools.
When our society tolerates, celebrates and encourages sick deviant behaviours, expect more violent reactions.
There is no excuse for what these students did. I would bet this was not there only victim at that school. It very well could have been for reasons unconnected with the student claiming to be non-binary. I think I can guess the ID of the bullies.
True. But now three will end up in jail and most likely be the ones considered weird.