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1 Ohio school, 4 bullied teens dead by own hand
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iEpyXZfAYt...
Gee this sounds all too familliar:
"Some students say the problem is the culture of conformity in this city of about 50,000 people: If you're not an athlete or cheerleader, you're not cool. And if you're not cool, you're a prime target for the bullies."
If I were raising kids of my own today I would look for one without focus on a sports program and no cheerleaders. Oh, and make sure my children were in self defense classes as early as possible then taught to look out for others that were not able to defend themselves.
This all seems so wrong to be processing these issues and also remembering John Lennon on his birthday today and what he stood for.
its still Helter Skelter
Comments
Interesting point...
The town I live in - Sports are important, but when it came time to cut the school budgets (Our wonderful governor drastically cut school aid this year)... They eliminated 9th grade sports programs, but kept all music/arts programs.
Wow, sanity?
In California they cut music in the Bay Area, that was sad.
Annette, your community is fortunate to have some appreciation for the arts.
Bullies don't like to be punched
Not gay, but I was a pimply, skinny kid, who wasn't interested in team sports, a prime target of school bullies.
However, My father had enrolled me in boxing classes when I was six. By the time I was fourteen, I had boxed in amateur matches and was very good at it.
The only time I got into fights, at school, was when I was the new kid or the bully was new and didn't know me. A bully would shove me or knock my books out of my hands and I would rain punches down, or up, on them, right on the spot, classroom, hallway, bus stop, it didn't matter. Sometimes, I did get beat up. But even so, they never bothered me again. They knew I wasn't afraid of a scrap. The school would call my parents in, but I never got in trouble for fighting, they knew I wouldn't start a fight.
If a kid doesn't stand up to the bullies, they are just going to make the kid's life miserable.
Mr. Ram
Reminds me of the story of
Reminds me of the story of Teddy Roosevelt. Some poor idiot took offense to him ordering a cup of coffee once, not realizing he was picking a fight with Harvard's runner-up boxing champion (or so the story goes :-D)
Girl or boy, I'm a firm believer in taking self-defense classes like that though, be it boxing, martial arts, or what-have-you. :-D
Weirdly though, I actually never had a problem. I was lucky. I had a few bullies who were all talk, but after I inadvertently befriended a few kids who I'd swear were gang members (Not that they ever tried to recruit me or anything), and somehow ended up befriending the varsity quarterback, people were scared of me after awhile >_>
Err, anyway. I digress, drift, and babble. :-D
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Fighting back
Not always possible; at 15 I was tiny, weighing under 70 pounds for the benefit of those who don't use stones, under 5 for those who do. When I tried to fight back, the individuals were simply assisted by their accompanying friends. Being markedly different, I was a daily target. The school blamed me for that crime, being different and tiny.
One size does not fit all
That's a solution that works for some people but not for everyone. It's effective against single bullies but is not effective or even safe against groups of bullies who gang up on single victims.
Here's another solution that won't work for everyone or in every situation.
In the seventh grade, after having watched others be victimized and getting bullied myself, I told teachers about what was going on. They said, if we don't see it, we can't do anything about it. I told my father, he said next time, make sure they see it. I said how. He said, don't wait for them to start it at their choice of time and place. If you've reported it and the school has done nothing, then you're still within your rights for self-defense to start a fight with the teachers watching.
So the next day when I saw three of the bullies head for the part of the schoolyard where the younger kids played, I took a two-by-four from a nearby construction site and went after them. I didn't hit anybody but only because I let them duck and dodge and run. The teachers were laughing but told me to go to the principal's office.
Mr. G. said he would have to call my parents. I said, call my dad, he works just down the street. Dad was water superintendent. Dad came and said yes, I had started a fight because he had told me to and that he would get someone fired if I were suspended because of it since I was only doing what the school had failed to do--protect myself and other kids. They compromised on a half-day suspension, the rest of that day which was almost over.
There has to be an easier way to do it.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Cross posting
Weposted simultaneously there, Erin. I should add that the first time I successfully fought back, against four of the sods, the Police were around my house that evening.
There is something seriously wrong
ALISON
'in that town when the girls who had bullied that poor child ,laughed at her body lying in the coffin.It makes me psychically
sick,but not as mentally sick as what those girls are---disgusting!
ALISON
Me too
This is right up there with Fred Phelps and his sickos
"Reality"
And yet the larger culture has put in place a continuous parade of public spectacle in which hatred, backbiting, and slander is both encouraged and rewarded. What are any of these "reality" shows but organised and risk-free bullying festivals in which people are encouraged by show producers to bad-mouth their faux competitors, cheat, act out without risk of serious retaliation, and in general behave badly?
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
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Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
YES!!!!
One reason I got rid of my television years ago.
Loss of respect
In a polite society there are boundaries one does not cross, in a relationship the first obvious sign you are losing respect for one another is the first time you tell someone "shut up". From there it goes down hill. The difference between formal and casual where slight indescretions are slipped by or excusable. Today acid whit, sarcasm, biting, snarky comments are all considered cool factors. The example set by our leaders is even worse in media campaigns. Made even worse by low lifes like Lee Atwater who believed in winning at any cost, making up plausible lies about the opposition becasue he knew people wanted to believe so he fead their needs. Anything was game because after the election is over and you have won only the losers don't forget, but they are unimportant. What kind of example are they setting from the top down?
By the way, Karl Rove was Atwater's protege :)