Bullying

[maxx]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/23/op...ngel.html?_r=1
"...Norway’s efforts have been tremendously effective. The incidence of bullying fell by half during the two-year period in which the programs were introduced. Stealing and cheating also declined. And the rate of bullying remains low today. Clearly, when a school and a community adopt values that are rooted in treating others with dignity and respect, children’s behavior can change..."

[gazhekwe]

Clearly, when a school and a community adopt values that are rooted in treating others with dignity and respect, children’s behavior can change..."

What a beautiful world that would be! Now to get busy:

As an essential part of the school curriculum, we have to teach children how to be good to one another, how to cooperate, how to defend someone who is being picked on and how to stand up for what is right.

To me, just having this in the school curriculum is not near enough. It must be in the family and in the community as well. How many times have we gone home from school as children with some tidbit from the teacher that our family totally rejected?

We have to get away from all this name-calling and ridiculing we see in our politicians, the media, everywhere these days. Bullying is the new normal in our lives.

[Chuck La Chez]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/23/op...ngel.html?_r=1
"...Norway’s efforts have been tremendously effective. The incidence of bullying fell by half during the two-year period in which the programs were introduced. Stealing and cheating also declined. And the rate of bullying remains low today. Clearly, when a school and a community adopt values that are rooted in treating others with dignity and respect, children’s behavior can change..."

The aggression will only take on subtle and insidious forms. I've seen it amongst Californians and small-towners. The smartest of them adopt styles of argumentation that are rhetoric based and they use it against the less intelligent.

Essentially, the bullying becomes more cruel because it's artistically concealed behind facades of compassion and few authorities have the time, inclination and education to decipher what's occurring. Even if the authority is able to gather enough evidence to make a conclusion, the victimizer still has plausible deniability.

It turns into an enormous mess. Good kids are accused of being bad and bad kids celebrated as good.

[daddeeo]

As long as the thug lifestyle is glorified and politicians make their living by lying and cheating plus brow beating others, I don't see bullying going away soon.
Insecure people who get off on beating down others has been around for a long time.
It would be nice if people started acting more like Christians instead of just talking a good game.

[Chuck La Chez]

It would be nice if people started acting more like Christians...

In what way?

[RedeemerKid]

There has been is a big emphasis on anti-bullying where my kid goes to school. The short-term result is that during any conflict, if you want to get under the skin of another kid, you just call him/her a bully. It's the BIGGEST put down going these days for younger kids.

Oh the irony.

[gazhekwe]

The thing is, oblique references to "bullying" and saying "it must stop" do no good. No one thinks they are a bully. One must take direct action. This is the behavior. Individuals perceived to be bullying must be addressed directly.

Kids calling other kids bullies to show power of them, that in itself is bullying. Makng a power play? Trying to show someone is inferior? They have dumb idea so that means they are stupid? or not among those sainted elites, "the American People>? It's complicated.

[Chuck La Chez]

There has been is a big emphasis on anti-bullying where my kid goes to school. The short-term result is that during any conflict, if you want to get under the skin of another kid, you just call him/her a bully. It's the BIGGEST put down going these days for younger kids.

Oh the irony.

One of the tools I've seen them use is competing for the most severe appearance of victimization.

[daddeeo]

I believe most Christians are taught to kind and charitable. We used to be told to treat others they way we would like to be treated.

[firstandten]

Back in the day, the most effective way to deal with bullying was to

1) overcome your fear and

2) Open up a can of whup-ass

Even if you lost the bullying stopped, since the bully realized he was at risk of getting physically hurt by bothering this individual. People respect others who stand up for themselves, winning the fight is not important its the standing up for oneself that people respect. The motto of some of my friends at the time was. I will never start a fight... but I will finish it.

[gazhekwe]

Daddeo -- I believe most Christians are taught to kind and charitable. We used to be told to treat others they way we would like to be treated.

I think "Christian" is a misnomer, because most if not all religions teach similar values. Those values may be "taught" but they don't seem to carry through into actions in life for many. Sunday Christians are the ones who are good in church or when interacting with church members, but out of that environment, survival of the fittest takes over. Look at the financial wizards who brought us to the brink of destruction. And kids? Those values are not completely ingrained, and need to be reinforced within each setting. Children do not have well developed sense of judgment.

[gibran]

Growing up watching MTV [[seeing it then and now) and the likes it seems to me that a few strategically placed anti bullying adds after a episode of Jersey Shores is a little out of touch... our teenagers having to top us in our antics have taken things to new hieghts..[[ i can here my dads voice inserted here)... but look at what we celebrate on kids TV ...talking rude to stupid adults and some of children cant seperate that this is not reality... we celebrate the lowest denominators vs the highest... we teach our kids that 'surviving is manipulation and that it is ok to parade a group of men or women to chose their potential mates... we look up to the girls gone wild creator and laugh at humor that degrades each other... sounds like I am getting old..no just tired of our children's values being influenced by Milly and Wallstreet.