Bullying

[Flyndaran]

All young children are sadists to some extent. Most of them grow out of it, and relatively quickly.

I would say most. I wasn't. The only time I came near to getting into a fight was when I saw a fellow sixth grader pulling the wings off flies. I came very close to overloading my shyness into a sound beating. No one abuses even simple animals in my presense.

My brother on the other hand loved getting me into trouble. He so enjoyed antogonizing me into action right as an adult came into view.
Now an adult, he isn't a prick. People can change.

[violetyoshi]

All young children are sadists to some extent. Most of them grow out of it, and relatively quickly.

That's rather disheartening. I have a hard time believing most children are raised to be cruel.

[Flyndaran]

That's rather disheartening. I have a hard time believing most children are raised to be cruel.

Most of them aren't raised to be cruel. They are that way naturally. Empathy is not an entirely innate reaction. It often requires education to understand how one's actions affect others.

[Boozy]

That's rather disheartening. I have a hard time believing most children are raised to be cruel.

Children aren't raised to be cruel; they are raised to be un-cruel. They have to unlearn innate behaviours like selfishness. The only thing stopping humanity from tearing each other to shreds is the hundreds of thousands of years that taught us that cooperation and kindness can pay, and are necessary to living in society. Good parents teach their kids not to bully because in the long run a bully does not tend to benefit from his actions. They end up as outcasts, or worse, in prison.

[Flyndaran]

Children aren't raised to be cruel; they are raised to be un-cruel. They have to unlearn innate behaviours like selfishness. The only thing stopping humanity from tearing each other to shreds is the hundreds of thousands of years that taught us that cooperation and kindness can pay, and are necessary to living in society. Good parents teach their kids not to bully because in the long run a bully does not tend to benefit from his actions. They end up as outcasts, or worse, in prison.

I wouldn't go quite that far. Evolution has at least partially pushed for tolerance. It's just that in a perfectly tolerant society the one intolerant person profits greatly. This keeps the ball bouncing far from either extreme.

I, for one, was born with an innate need for balance that vaguely equates to a sense of fairness. It doesn't make me better or worse, just a little pre-educated in that regard only.