With the death of the kid up in NJ the media is ramping up their coverage of the topic and criminal penalties are being considered as I understand it for the two kids who "outed" the victim online. Obviously an almost extreme example of bullying but I thought it gives good cause to ask a couple of question of Skyboxers: 1) Do you sympathize more with the victim or with the accused? 2) In school....would you have considered yourself more in line with those who bullied or with those who were bullied? Not saying you were in fact a bully but do you think it was a significant problem or just playful innocence? And here is an article that outlines a sad statistic: http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/10/03/p.child.being.bullied/index.html?hpt=Sbin
I was a bully and I never sympathized with the weenies... Its not always possible for young people to recognize the severity of situations that they're involved in. When I was in college, my best friend commited suicide. I never saw it coming... ........JO'Co
My first comment was not in jest. I was a bully from my earliest days. In fact, my kindergarten teacher made note of it on my very first report card when I was five years old in 1955. Its something that I grew out of as I grew older and I learned how to be less confrontational. Attending an all boys Catholic high school really helped. Its hard to be a bully when there are 900 other bullies...
You shouldn't be. Bullies exist for a reason. As a teacher and a former bully, its easy for me to recognize bullies and help them to modify their behavior. Bullies are filled with fear and their fear comes from home. They're not the bad kids; they're victims too. The trick is to break the cycle of fear and violence so that it doesn't repeat itself generation after generation. These things have roots and causes. My grandfather from Ireland used to beat my dad for every report card grade that was less than an "A." That kind of treatment didn't teach him anything, except to hate school. Most bullies have similar stories to tell and teacher/coach interventions are one way to stop it. ........JO'Co
I have a problem with the concept that one has to sympathize with one or the other involved with this. I think it was terrible that those two videoed the kid having an intimate relationship. They're shits. I also think that taking one's life is a terrible thing. The net is full of college kids videoing their escapades. This kid who killed himself had terrible personality problems. He doesn't have to live with the outcome. The shits do. I sympathize with the familys of the kids involved.
Absolutely......tragic on both sides. JoCo: All very good points. I see you have explored the issues that you had as a youth and are even mentoring others to overcome the problem. The world needs more teachers such as yourself.
As a young child, I was not very healthy. I was allergic to most everything except air. I was in the bullied category. at 11 years old, I threw off most of the health issues and hit a growth spurt that put fear into the eyes of my past tormentors. It was at that point that I continued my friendship with the "weenies" and took on a protector role. I didn't bully anyone but I became an impenetrable force against the attacks of the bullies. I despise a bully and/or braggart. Whether it be in life or in sports, I cheer for the underdog to play well in any circumstance. Good thing that I am a Tennessee fan. Plenty of chances to cheer for the underdog! :wink:
Me too. They are very, very disruptive to a good education. I despise even more parents who either are a direct causative factor or who ignore or possibly encourage their offspring to bully. I too when very young....about 2nd grade... jumped in to a fight once and basically took over for a small kid who I thought was getting beat up by a larger kid. Instinct at work I guess. When I was older and trying to be a good student I was surrounded by what I would call morons in the public school system of the biggest redneck town in America......Jacksonville. The annoyances and general dislike of anything academic of these cretins helped to shape some of my adult opinions unfortunately of their kind. I probably tend to generalize way too much but backward, redneck and non-progressive thinking and behavior just irritates the hell out of me. In any event I would say at times I was annoyed, sometimes really annoyed more than bullied in school and if it crossed the line I would usually strike back......and that always stopped the annoyer from further disruptions.
I've been the "anti-bully" my whole life. My parents had two hard, fast rules which were adhered to without fail. You always respect your elders and you never pick on anybody. I was a jock from the 4th grade on so I didn't get picked on much. But my little brother and sisters did so I had my share of alley fights. My reputation was solid through high school... pick on my siblings and you get your ass beat. Period. I passed that on to both my sons. My youngest son was not much of a student but was a wrestler and football player. In spite of our best efforts he barely scraped through high school and when he got his diploma we shed tears of relief at the ceremony. As we were leaving a lady came running up shouting our name. She said she had to talk to us about our son. I thought "no, don't ruin this moment of triumph". She told us her freshman son was litttle and was picked on all the time. One day two guys were stuffing him in his locker and my son wandered by. He knocked the one kid on his butt and grabbed the other by the throat and said " I'm Adam Krebs and this kid is my friend" . They both took off and the little guy never had another issue the rest of the year. That was better than the diploma. The torch was passed. It all starts at home.
Thanks guys. Nope, Scott is the Trooper... Adam is his little brother. Let me take it back a little further. They went to different high schools. Scott wanted to go to a catholic HS... Adam didn't want to go at all 8) so off to Howell HS he went. Whe he was a freshman two seniors took it on themselves to bully him because they didn't like his older brother. Well a friend of Scott's named Tom Martin saw this and stood up for Adam as he did himself later on. Tom went on to start at D Tackle for Boston College for four years so when he stood by Adam his troubles were over. Adam went on to play the sports plus he boxed in the local Police Athletic League so he no longer needed help after that. Its the classic case of paying it forward.
How do people raise their kids to be as callous and cruel as some of these kids in this article: http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20101008/US.Bullying.One.Town/
You would think there is a special place in hell reserved for these teenage animals or that at least they would live their lives out in torment but in reality they probably couldn't care less.
Anyone else see parallels in these bullying cases and this case? http://www.bnd.com/2010/10/06/1427288/high-court-to-hear-military-funeral.html
Some of the greatest atrocities in history have been committed in the name of God. This is no different. Personally, I'd like to burn their church to the ground. They're nothing more than a bunch of inbred goobers .