What is your opinion about bullying?

[gt8613]

I was driving and heard some talk about bullying on the radio... I think it was NPR. I know it is quite a problem... but it also frustrates me how it is hard to battle it. So I just wanted to start a discussion regarding this issue with the following questions.


What is the worst case of bullying and harassment that you know of?


Has bullying impacted your life?

[Gixxersixxerman]

I was short all through school and was "bullied" lol, called names and stuff.. But it didn't really bother me.. I never had thoughts of suicide or was depressed because of it.. I just didn't care.

Now we just moved to a new neighborhood, and this 11 year old was bullying and throwing around my girlfriends 5 year old son. She went out there and the kid got in her face. I went out there and he got in my face and I shoved him back telling him IDGAF the age of a kid.. I'll slap the shit out of a little bitch ass brat.. He started shaking and everything and I told him when my 15 year old son gets here this summer, I'll have him kick that kids ass everyday if he touches a 5 year old again.. The mom came and I told her the same.. No 11 y/o needs to be hitting, pushing or putting their hands on.. It's sad how people can't discipline their kids, and let them run all over them with the excuse, "they're just kids"

Part of life is picking on, or being picked on.. Happens in all stages of life.. No matter the age.. I think there shouldn't be lines that are crossed..

[Conundrum]

Originally Posted by Gixxersixxerman

I was short all through school and was "bullied" lol, called names and stuff.. But it didn't really bother me.. I never had thoughts of suicide or was depressed because of it.. I just didn't care.

It's sad how people can't discipline their kids, and let them run all over them with the excuse, "they're just kids" .

Pretty much this, but mainly that.

[FiRStsc10n]

The sad part is that bullying has entered a whole new era, online. Kids/adults are now subject to bullying in all areas of their life, and it becomes difficult to escape it. But kids/adults are crossing too many lines now a days, pinpointing and picking on certain individuals because they are different in one way or another, and it saddens me to see people taking their own lives because of it. If they speak up, no one listens, or no one can do anything.

I want to put something in perspective. Russia invades and pushes Ukraine around, or North Korea threatens South Korea/US, and our society wants to send armies to stop it. But yet there are peoples privacy being invaded, and people being pushed around, or threatened on a daily basis and no one moves a finger.

[robwbright]

I, too, was short, (relatively) smart and wanted to please the teachers. Not the ideal combination. Letting it bother you is the worst thing you can do.

The solution was to punch the bully - being so much smaller, it took me awhile to get the nerve up, but one punch each time was enough to stop it. Probably didn't even hurt much, but bullies are not nearly as tough as they act.

Of course, those were different times. Doing that now would result in immediate suspension for the person defending themselves.

That, ultimately, is the problem. Schools are not allowed to discipline kids anymore with anything other than detention or suspension - and kids aren't allowed to defend themselves... there was a recent case where a boy wasn't allowed to bring a backpack to school because it was too much of a temptation to the bullies to pick on him. Granted, it was a boy carrying a My Little Pony backpack, but so what.

[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
[ame]http://youtu.be/l93wAqnPQwk[/ame]

[NWFRS]

I get bullied every day at work.

I bully right back.

I think kids that DON'T get bullied early in life are actually at an emotional disadvantage later. I realize I'm only looking at one aspect of this issue, and every human being on earth is going to react to stress in different ways. Just my opinion.

[LadyFRZ]

Bullies can go fuck themselves.
I was bullied practically everyday. All day, everyday, through middle and highschool. It was a living hell. They would pull my hair, spit on me, puts bugs in my hair...It was absolutely awful.
In high school, since I played sports (and was actually quite good), people would make up stories like I had down syndrome to get me off the team. PE was horrible. If I was slow, people would purposefully trip me and just..
I was in the homecoming court for my senior year. Turns out I was elected just so the other female could have an "easy win." The ridicule I got at the dance was astounding.


The whole "kids will be kids" is bullshit, these little shits know exactly what they're doing. Parents need to discipline, and be actual parents.
The thing that drives me insane is at school, there was a male child with a MLP lunchbox and was bullied. Instead of focusing on the bullies, the school banned the lunchbox.

[n2oinferno]

I know several people that were bullied while they were in school, and there are still signs of it in the way they behave today (I'm 30+ now.) I have two kids of my own now. If I find out they're bullying another kid I'll likely be so livid with them I won't know what to do, but I absolutely won't tolerate that bullshit. And if they're being bullied hopefully they'll come to me or my wife and tell us about it, because most kids won't. I'll put a stop to it any way possible.

I can't really say I was ever bullied. Kids teased me every once in a while, and some kids are just assholes too, but there was a line that was never crossed. I sorta fell into the goth crowd a bit while I was in high school. Black clothes, chains, long black coat. But they did a lot of stupid shit too so I never really felt like I fit in there either. Anyway, we got picked on every once in a while but it was just name calling, and there never was a whole lot of attention directed at me because I still had friends in a handful of other cliques. And then Columbine happened and it got really quiet for a long while. And then some asshole jock threw a brick through the window of my friend's car, and that set something off between the cliques again. But nobody really messed with me. Then I transferred schools for my last year so I had a chance to sorta start fresh.

And now a short rant.. The fuck is all of this "no tolerance" bullshit? I'm hearing stories now about how one kid starts a fight and is beating on another kid, who doesn't fight back, but because of "no tolerance" they both get punished/suspended/etc. All that says to me is "Well, you're going to get punished anyway. Might as well do as much damage as possible because the consequence will be the same."

[Porsche]

Originally Posted by LadyFRZ

Bullies can go fuck themselves.
I was bullied practically everyday. All day, everyday, through middle and highschool. It was a living hell. They would pull my hair, spit on me, puts bugs in my hair...It was absolutely awful.
In high school, since I played sports (and was actually quite good), people would make up stories like I had down syndrome to get me off the team. PE was horrible. If I was slow, people would purposefully trip me and just..
I was in the homecoming court for my senior year. Turns out I was elected just so the other female could have an "easy win." The ridicule I got at the dance was astounding.


The whole "kids will be kids" is bullshit, these little shits know exactly what they're doing. Parents need to discipline, and be actual parents.
The thing that drives me insane is at school, there was a male child with a MLP lunchbox and was bullied. Instead of focusing on the bullies, the school banned the lunchbox.

You GO, girl!

Am I allowed to say that? I'm older than your dad.

You know, if I had a son your age, I think I would be very pleased were he to marry YOU, or someone just like you.

[dbrandt01]

I lived it everyday. The online bullying never really took off on my side. Instead of I used online to escape reality. 7 years ago when it started I made friends, and guess what? They're still my friends today despite never meeting them. They got me through high school. Teachers don't care because it's "how kids should act" or so they claim. Probably my worst were the football players. They'd all play "linebacker" and basically ram me into the wall/locker. That was considered horseplay to teachers though.

One of the online friends helped me realized they only bully because they're jealous of what the person they were bullying had.

Sad thing, was when I joined the Army and the short time I was in before my medical discharged is it happens just as much there as it did in high school. Except in the Army, "if somebody didn't see it then it never happened"

Hmm, how it changed me. I guess in a sense I avoid people in person now. I don't even want to shake somebodies hand. Maybe in a sense that's why I avoid the local car meets because big groups of people terrify me. Hell, even in college now. I sit in the back corner of every class so no one sits behind me. A high school habit I formed.

[LadyFRZ]

Originally Posted by Porsche

You GO, girl!

Am I allowed to say that? I'm older than your dad.

You know, if I had a son your age, I think I would be very pleased were he to marry YOU, or someone just like you.

Yes you are, but at the second point, I wouldn't be too sure about that.


In volleyball I would have to practice up against a wall because people would pair up, and a group would go into 3s because they didn't want me as a partner, even though I was capable.
Was always done with my work the first in class. Got my work stolen many a times.. Will make the high school reunion that much more interesting,I guess.. Seeing how some of the bullies are still giving me the same shit they gave me that many years ago.


I feel parents want to be the child's "friend" rather than a parent,and that's why not only entitlement has gone up, but bullying as well.
@dbrandt01

Thank you for your service. And I hope you feel better.

[XanRules]

I got picked on a lot in school and the other kids didn't leave me alone until I started fighting back.

Broke one kid's nose in front of his mom. He got up in my face walking in to school that morning, his mom dropped him off, and I just bashed my forehead into his face and he just dropped.

[dem00n]

Overblown.