What is your opinion about bullying?

[husker741]

It can permanently do psychological damage to kids. Insecurity when getting older is one problem that bullying brings. @dem00n, you're an idiot.

[dem00n]

Originally Posted by husker741

It can permanently do psychological damage to kids. Insecurity when getting older is one problem that bullying brings. @dem00n, you're an idiot.

You're a hypocrite.

[husker741]

Originally Posted by dem00n

You're a hypocrite.

Thanks for picking up on that.

[dem00n]

This is why we can't have topics like this.

Disagreements, then people insult each other.
Typical.

[wallace03]

I got bullied occasionally growing up in the south suburbs of Houston where there were no asian people, pretty much all up til my junior year in highschool. I'd still hear some "comments" about my race which i wasn't exactly fond of but wasn't exactly racist either. It didn't help that i was chubby, not super attractive, and had bad acne til i graduated.

This encouraged me to start working out and train in MMA. Emotionally it made me bitter and quick to go on the offensive if i felt like someone was disrespecting (bullying) me. The good thing about it is now i try to reach out to people now who seem like they need a friend, i like to spread awareness about bullying, and in general i just try to help people who are less fortunate as much as i can. I'd like to think it has made me a humble person and able to understand what it feels like to feel hopeless and unwanted which enables me to better connect with others out there who have ever felt the same.

Funny related story: A few days ago i was at the gym and a guy that was known to be a bully in HS (who got me a few times when we were younger as well) recognized me immediately and said "hey didn't you go to _____ hs? you got swole as hell, what happened?" Funny thing was i felt zero animosity towards him, assumed that we're both grown ups now and just let bygones and bygones. So maybe some people do change when they grow up, or maybe he just respected me more because i got big.

As far as internet bullying/trolling goes, it's hard for me to speak on that because i never had to deal with it. Honestly i think if you're being bullied over the internet then don't get on it, delete people who are asses, or avoid websites or w/e.

[Ocean-Grown 86]

I've bullied and been bullied a little myself. I was an awkward kid and sometimes me or my friends would be picked on it as a result. I myself did some bullying after, usually verbal insults, nothing physical (I hope). To be honest, why I bullied others still confuses me. I was able to get over being bullied rather quickly, but the guilt of the memories of being a bully entails is much worse. Gladly, I soon gained a conscious and quit bullying forever. Thankfully, my bullying issues were minor compared to most others. To answer your question, bullying is shit that should not be tolerated by anyone.

[7thgear]

bullying and dealing with bullying ain't the same anymore

back when i was growing up, you had your fists... or heavy/sharp objects to beat people with.

dealing with physical bullying...someone pushes you in the hallway, you come back at them by stabbing them in the arm with a pen or smashing a can of coke over their head. Physical bullies stop fucking with you 90% of the time when you show them that you're no pushover.

dealing with mental bullying... someone calls you a ***got cocksucker, you stab them in the arm with a pen or smash a coke can over their head, they'll never bother you again.


most kids are dumb, physical rebutal solves 90% of the problems... because if the kids were intelligent enough to respond to intellectual scolding they wouldn't have commited the offence in the first place.

but now kids can't fight it out, they get expelled
teachers can't touch kids, they'll get fired
teachers can't comment on kids' attitudes, clothing, behaviour, or even FAIL them (thanks, Bush), they'll get fired

Parents have little time for their kids, cuz economy is fucked

so you're left with kids doing whatever the fuck they want with no one giving them shit for it

long gone are the days where a total stranger could beat the shit out of you, bring you home to your parents, where he would get thanked.

too many dumb people in this world... time for WW3

[TylerLieberman]

Originally Posted by 86 Dreams

It's all about parental supervision. As the economy gets worse and the value of the dollar decreases more and more households have to send both parents to work. I think that's why you're seeing bullying getting worse.
Look at these little bastard's if these were my kids I would be so embarrassed

That video enraged me. Shit like that pisses me off. Some parents are just oblivious to what their kids do.

It's not kids either. It's adults too. I'm active duty in the Army and I have been through so many classes on sexual harassment, equal opportunity, and suicide prevention. I volunteer for the suicide prevention classes because of how serious it is to me. People who get to that point feel cornered. Like there's no way out and people are too busy with their own lives to actually take a minute and listen to other peoples' problems and understand what they're feeling. Something that may seem insignificant to you may be the difference between life and death for another human being. The thought of that is crazy.

There's so much people can do to help stop bullying but nobody wants to be "that guy" to step in and intervene because they don't want to become involved. Sometimes, just standing up for somebody can make all the difference in the world. Shit... Sometimes just saying "Hello, how are you" or "Have a great day" can make a difference. The fact is some people just don't give a damn anymore. So many people in society have lost the understand of things as simple as basic common courtesy and it's unbelievable. People are so consumed with meaningless shit that people have forgotten what it means to just be a good human being.

It's sickening sometimes.

[trd_kid]

I used to be bullied alot when I was younger due to how weird I was (anime freak, nerd, didn't play sports , etc..) and I had alot of self esteem issues. But as I grew older I found out that the people who bullied me shouldn't matter and I became thankful for the people who viewed me as a friend, and as a result of trying new things(sports, journalism, etc) but still keeping my so called "weird" side a part of my identity I earned alot of respect from everyone. It's funny how in my younger years the weird stuff was the reason I was bullied but by embracing it I left a noticeable impact on my community by treating everyone with respect and not being superficial like the "bullies" we're. In all honesty it's the parents fault for letting their kid be undisciplined and not providing enough emotional support for their children. In my area at least the bullies were the kids who had parents/siblings/etc beat them or abuse them in some way , and it's sad that these kids turn out that way due to lack of proper support.

Alot of the bullies end up growing up eventually , and let things go and will generally be friendly in a sense once they get into the real world and realize they aren't the big bad wolf they thought they we're.

[mike the snake]

Bullying has many levels. Some, fairly harmless that don't cause much lasting damage, but when it gets to a point where real damage is done, kids being extra cruel and relentless, it's sad that those kids can't be give a taste of their own medicine as punishment.

I was bullied as a kid, by this one kid, who bullied a bunch of others as well. He died just out of high school in a construction accident. When I told another friend who was also bullied by that guy that he was killed, my friend yelled out "GOOD! I'm glad the motherfucker is dead".

Parents have a lot of responsibility to keep bullying from happening if they find out their kids are bullying other kids. Unfortunately, a LOT of parents are pieces of shit themselves. How do you think the kids in this video are going to grow up, with parents as absolutely dumb as paint as this? This is where part of the problem lies IMO.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrpVpVJd-zs"]ATL hood rat gets tasered in front of kids with fitting music - YouTube[/ame]

I lived with some people a long time ago who had kids. They were friends of a couple who'd bring their bully of a kid over, and that kid would bully my roommate's kid badly.

I saw it happen many times, and when I had the chance, when no one was looking, I made that bully kid cry! I did just what he did to my roommate's kid (came up from behind and smacked him upside the head, and acted I tripped and like it was an accident). I made sure to tell him I saw him do the same thing to the other kid, and asked him how it felt. He said he didn't like it, and I said "then don't do it to other kids, now you know how you're making them feel, and if I ever see you bully anyone ever again, there's going to be another "accidental accident".

I also told the parents about it, and later on they came to visit again and told me they knew he was bullying other kids, but he had stopped.

Bullies infuriate me. Most of them too stupid to realize the damage they do.

[gt8613]

I have been reading all the responses but have been very busy so never responded. I feel like I have a lot to say however and did start typing up my piece but I have not finished addressing all the points/responses. I will be posting the what I have (the first part) of it tonight when I get home and perhaps a bit more if I have more time.

[Priapus]

The problem I see is that American kids are taught to be confident, that they are unique and important and when they fart, a rainbow comes out of their assholes. They never learn that other people are just as special as they are, and everyone should mind one another.

I was born and raised in Vietnam. Bullying was never a problem there. You pick on a kid, that kid tells your parents, and you get your ass beat. I'm not encouraging child abuse by any means, but if a kid acts like a d!ckhole, it's the parents' job to make sure it doesn't happen again. A little smack on the butt goes a long way.

Child-protecting laws are great, but they have too many restrictions on how a child is to be disciplined. Undisciplined kids grow up to be douche bag teenagers, and then d!ckhead adults who don't know how to keep their kids under control. And the problem goes on until the whole society is swarmed with kids bullying one another because they can get away with it.

Sure, I hated it when I was punished as a child, but now I understand that it had to be done. This whole "time-out" and "grounded" bull crap American parents are doing is not effective. Punishments should be harsh enough to scare kids straight, but not so bad that they leave kids mentally scarred and scared of life.

I hope that when you read this post, you take all of it into consideration when you discipline your own kids. In my opinion, I turned out to be a very good person. I'm extremely nice to everybody, all of the time, and when I'm mad or in a bad mood, I keep it to myself and not drag people into my problems. I hope everyone would be more like me, but then again, that's my own opinion, and if you don't like it, I hope this page explains my points better than I can. http://gfys.org

[cfusionpm]

I was the fat kid all through school, for as long as I can remember. On top of that, I was in band (first chair clarinet, snare/quads/drum set) for six years. I got my fair share of teasing and bullying. Thanks to my dad, he helped me turn it around. I mean, yeah establishing dominance by throwing that asshat jock to the ground will "solve" the issue temporarily (and I had at least two instances of that... Being twice their weight helps in that regard...). But the best solution he gave me was to spit it back at them better, funnier, more clever, more witty. Take the upper hand by making fun of yourself before they can make fun of you. Doing that makes their verbal abuse less powerful. Takes the wind completely out of their sails and gets the "crowd" on your side if you can make them laugh.

Got me through high school and college after "kicking someone's ass" wasn't an option anymore. :P

I'm still a big guy, working out to get back into shape, but I can spit back and forth with the best of them and make everyone laugh along the way. I'd like to think I have a great sense of humor and humility and I have my fat ass amd nerdy hobbies to thank.

[gt8613]

Here is what I have to say:

Bullying is a funny topic because the word "bullying" is used ubiquitously to describe a whole range of activities. It ranges from simple name-calling to cases of physical assaults on an individual to give them a hard time....to the very extreme cases of systematic and calculated group harassment where the targeted individual is subjected to an extremely hostile environment. Such cases of group harassment are instrumented to cause medical problems such as depression and anxiety disorder. @dem00n this is where I think you are wrong. Although I can understand that you may consider some of the simpler cases to definitely be overblown... that are some very extreme ones that you don't hear about which are meant to destroy an individual and the scars can last a life time if that individual does not get help. I am not talking just about kids in elementary and middle school. Bullying happens in high school, college and the adult world as well. Talking about such controversial issues is always a good idea because different people have experienced different things ( some you may not be aware of) and you learn more about the subject and gain their perspective.

@gixxersixxerma

Yes, things like a 11 year old bullying a 5 year old really amaze me. I mean they are very few things that can be considered more petty than that. a-near adolescent kid picking on a toddler or a kid barely out of that stage. However, it sounds like you have it under control and I am guessing this was not something that was repetitively? I think that kid may have just made a very stupid mistake but either way I think he will think twice before going near your 5 year old again.

I like how you called your own experience as "bullying"... as it never affected you. I mean, yes, we all face adversity in life... but that is not bullying. Bullying actually affects the person and invades their lives. It is an uncomfortable and a very negative experience for them.
@FiRStsc10n

Yes! wow! Believe it or not but i have the same exact views and I thought no one else saw it that way. We spend billions on going after people abroad... when we can't even protect our own kids from these "terrorists". I mean really...what is the difference?