Cyber Bullying Must End.

[Aethian]

The problem with this argument is that there are many different levels of bullying.

Am I correct in the assumption that you believe that I believe the teacher to be right?

[Jester]

Aethian, while I can't speak for Clerk, I believe he is saying something akin to what I said....that there are different kinds of bullying, and that most of the bullshit that happens between kids IS just bullshit that happens between kids. I don't think he was saying that YOUR situation was an example of that.

Personally, I can't say that your situation was or wasn't an example of that, as I don't know the details. If it is still haunting you to this day, and if they targeted only you and were relentless, then your situation is one I would classify as extreme, and therefore the teacher, at least in your case, was dead wrong.

But that's just my opinion. I could be, and have been, wrong.

[Aethian]

It wasn't the teacher that said that...it was the school board of the three schools. From 2nd grade all the way till the day I graduated. And it was the same 15-20 kids every single year.

[dendawg]

Here's how I dealt with a bully in middle school. (I did this with the aid of Reddit's unofficial ragemaker site.)

[Greenday]

Here's how I dealt with a bully in middle school. (I did this with the aid of Reddit's unofficial ragemaker site.)

While I was in a class that contained four of my biggest bullies, I finally got so fed up with their shit that I made a HUGE scene and threatened to put the one kid in the hospital. Things really toned down after that.

[s_stabeler]

personally, I have an exceptionally low tolerance for bullies ( my suggestion for dealing with bullying would be permanent expulsion for a first offense) due to having been bullied throughout most of my education.

I have a theory about why cyberbullying drives people to suicide more than other types of bullying. It's about having a sanctuary, a place where you know you can do whatever you want without being bullied. With cyberbullying, such a sanctuary is impossible, since young people use the net so much. Therefore, there is no escape from the bullies, keeping the pressure on virtually 24/7.

Also, yes, parents need to be involved in tackling bullying, but it certainly would help if teachers tried to do something. I mean, when a bully is bullying a victim literally right under the teacher's nose, with the teacher watching, and the teacher does f**k all (IIRC, the teacher actually looked amused ) then... well, sometimes I;m amazed I managed to get through school, and Ive never truly recovered from the bullying.

[Greenday]

Normally, when something horrible happens, the football sim forum I frequent posts a lot of horrible crap. So far, only one douchebag has said anything bad. Everyone else is opening up and being supportive of each other. It's confusing but touching.

[TheHuckster]

personally, I have an exceptionally low tolerance for bullies ( my suggestion for dealing with bullying would be permanent expulsion for a first offense) due to having been bullied throughout most of my education.

I think bullying should be met with much lower tolerance than it is now, but I don't agree with zero-tolerance policies at all. Students make mistakes, sometimes their actions are misunderstood with bullying, and they also need a chance to learn from whatever lighter punishment they are met with.

The first-offense should definitely involve the parents and should be considered a serious issue, but permanent expulsion is too harsh for the first time. Otherwise, too many "good guys" who simply pushed the envelope too much with a poorly timed tease or a stupid insensitive statement would be out of school.

It's when you get to the third and fourth offenses where really serious considerations should be made. It's by this time that a serious talk and some disciplinary action and involving the parents clearly didn't send the message and some more drastic measures should be made.

[Greenday]

I think bullying should be met with much lower tolerance than it is now, but I don't agree with zero-tolerance policies at all. Students make mistakes, sometimes their actions are misunderstood with bullying, and they also need a chance to learn from whatever lighter punishment they are met with.

Example of zero tolerance gone wrong: In high school, my sister's boyfriend hit her with a snowball. He was suspended for a week. My sister tried to explain he wasn't bullying her, but since he was a troublemaker, they didn't care.

[s_stabeler]

I think bullying should be met with much lower tolerance than it is now, but I don't agree with zero-tolerance policies at all. Students make mistakes, sometimes their actions are misunderstood with bullying, and they also need a chance to learn from whatever lighter punishment they are met with.

The first-offense should definitely involve the parents and should be considered a serious issue, but permanent expulsion is too harsh for the first time. Otherwise, too many "good guys" who simply pushed the envelope too much with a poorly timed tease or a stupid insensitive statement would be out of school.

It's when you get to the third and fourth offenses where really serious considerations should be made. It's by this time that a serious talk and some disciplinary action and involving the parents clearly didn't send the message and some more drastic measures should be made.

Permanant explulsion is perhaps too harsh, but the point is that it requires serious disciplinary action even on a first offense. I agree zero-tolerance can be taken too far ( though I think the true issue is applying zero-tolerance to incidents with shouldn't be covered. for instance, Greenday's snowball example, assuming it was just a snowball ( no rocks in it, for example) is just people horsing around. If it had a rock in it (thus is designed to injure) then the suspension might be appropriate.

The problem, though, is how far do you let a student go before offering the student a chance to learn from their mistakes is inappropriate? These days, bullies seem to be able to get away with murder ( which is what I firmly believe deliberately driving someone to suicide is) without punishment. Sure, you need to avoid simple teasing being classed as bullying, but many bullies will use that as an excuse for what they were doing ( "we was only teasing him, honest!" when they've driven someone to tears and got caught. yes, I've seen it happen. No, the bullies weren't punished at all. No, they didn't stop. Matter of fact, they got worse.) So you need to balance allowing friendly teasing with preventing bullies using it as an excuse.

[TheHuckster]

Permanant explulsion is perhaps too harsh, but the point is that it requires serious disciplinary action even on a first offense. I agree zero-tolerance can be taken too far ( though I think the true issue is applying zero-tolerance to incidents with shouldn't be covered. for instance, Greenday's snowball example, assuming it was just a snowball ( no rocks in it, for example) is just people horsing around. If it had a rock in it (thus is designed to injure) then the suspension might be appropriate.

The problem, though, is how far do you let a student go before offering the student a chance to learn from their mistakes is inappropriate? These days, bullies seem to be able to get away with murder ( which is what I firmly believe deliberately driving someone to suicide is) without punishment. Sure, you need to avoid simple teasing being classed as bullying, but many bullies will use that as an excuse for what they were doing ( "we was only teasing him, honest!" when they've driven someone to tears and got caught. yes, I've seen it happen. No, the bullies weren't punished at all. No, they didn't stop. Matter of fact, they got worse.) So you need to balance allowing friendly teasing with preventing bullies using it as an excuse.

What you've said is basically identical to what I said: Bullying should be less tolerated by teachers and parents than it is now. And I think there should be better consideration taken to distinguish mere teasing on an oversensitive student from deliberate bullying.

[s_stabeler]

You're right. ( although do be careful about labeling someone over-sensitive, as that's another problem - teachers seem to dismiss actual bullying victims as being oversensitive)

[TheHuckster]

You're right. ( although do be careful about labeling someone over-sensitive, as that's another problem - teachers seem to dismiss actual bullying victims as being oversensitive)

Of course. That doesn't mean there aren't any oversensitive people who will take any kind of lighthearted tease the wrong way and unfairly get the teaser in a lot of trouble.

[CaptainJaneway]

Here is two more stories about bullying. I think it is awful when the victim gets punished for standing up for themselves.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/...140353690.html

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/...170805410.html

[s_stabeler]

Those stories make me really mad. So not only does the bully get away scot free, not only does the victim get punished, but the victim even loses privileges due to being bullied? ( being banned from homecoming ( fortunately reversed after the kid's mother got involved) and chucking the victim out of marching band, which had been helping him recover from the effects of bullying? Trying to force the parents to pay for counseling, presumably to teach the kid to juts sit there and take it?)

the bullies in those two cases won, pure and simple. They essentially were given the right to bully whoever they cared to, and the school would punish anyone who fought back. Sure, I can see the school wanting to discourage fighting.So punish the bully who started the fight. ( I can sort of see why you would punish both IF you can't figure out who started the fight. But punishing only the victim, when it was clear the bully started the fight? No wonder there is violence issues in schools these days,