Bullying

[paramedicmike]

This video has sparked a pretty interesting discussion on another forum I frequent. I'm curious to see what comes of it here.

So what do you think? I'm leaving this open intentionally just to see where this goes.

***Disclaimer for Dwayne***

This is not a journal article. There are no treatment guidelines or outlines being suggested. Take this only at face value knowing that there are many background issues we just won't or can't know. I am posting this to start a discussion and may, or may not, further voice an opinion depending on where the conversation goes. (Only because I didn't see any other of those silly smileys that better portrayed the fact that I was trying to make a joke.)

[Happiness]

OK I will bite on this one. It always amazed me that it was the skinny little pecker heads that teased the fat kids. And normally the bigger one can beat the crap out of them as per what happened in the video. The reason that the big kid got suspended is that he really could have done some serious injury to the little one. I hope this kids parents are supporting him at home as there is only so much that a bullied kid can take.

There is no need for bulling in our society at any level and it takes parents to teach that to our children. I have been lucky with my boys (scrappy as they are) they do not tolerate bullying ever and when they see it they will step in. My youngest use to go to the extent of wearing pink socks (they were mine of course) just to get the bullies to say something. They never did, I really wish the more kids that are confident in their own being would take the stance for the ones that dont have the self esteme. For example this artical http://www.suite101.com/content/anti-bullying-campaign-in-canada-a219531

Happy

[BushyFromOz]

Good on him.

[island emt]

Good for him!

Putting up with little punks who think there bad only lasts for so long until PAYBACK time. At least he didn't come to school with guns .

Too bad the school management doesn't use this video as part of a training program to show the bullies.

[Lone Star]

Clearly, the skinny kid was the aggressor, and his actions have been going on for a while.

I was taught as a kid that there are other ways to deal with situations like this rather than resorting to fisticuffs, but ‘real life’ has proven time and time again that there are times where you have no recourse but to reach out and punch the snot out of someone who insists on pushing you past your limits.

By suspending the bigger kid, the only lessons that were taught is that the skinny kid can pretty much do what he wants , and the bigger kid can only ‘suck it up’. I believe that since the skinny kid was the instigator, he should have been suspended from school just as fast as the bigger kid was.

The ‘cameraman’ is obviously a friend of the instigator and between the two of them thought it was great sport to pick on someone else; why else would he be recording this incident?

If you ask me, the skinny whelp got just what he deserved!

I’ve been in the shoes of the bigger kid, and have been pushed around by those that thought they were tougher than me. While I still think that resorting to throwing punches is barbaric, I WILL stand up for myself and if it means I’ve got to knock some arrogant jerk on his ass in the process, oh well….!

[Timmy]

Indeed! Good for him!

I was fortunate enough to escape any harassment during my school years, of course there were people you didn’t get along with but it never resulted in physical assault or the seriousness of the attached video.

Back in the days of my high schooling we had a very multicultural and diverse population, the Italians were always brawling with the Iraqi kids and the Aussies were always brawling with the Italians, fortunately for me I was half Italian and half Aussies and if you left the Iraqi kids alone they were happy to hang around in there own groups.

Luckily there was very little, if any serious incidents from memory. But I have heard it has since changed…

[Richard B the EMT]

My view is, whoever said that "Sticks and stones might break my bones, but words will never harm me" must have been home schooled. Bullies don't need a specific reason to bully any particular individual. While obviously intended as silliness, the episode of "The Simpsons" implying that those who get bullied put out Pheromones that attract bullies might actually be the case. Some weakness is perceived by a bully, and amplified on.

Showing that fight reminds me of an "almost" in my own case. I presume most here have heard the old story of the boy who got blitz-attacked from behind, beaten severely, and HE is the one gets suspended in school for fighting.

At least nowadays, teachers are leaving the "Sticks and stones" attitude in the dust, where it should have been left before I attended grade school. I was one of those people attacked by the cliques and the "Heathers", as I wasn't either a "jock," or an intellectual (being the intellectual I profess to be now must have been late in starting).

[P_Instructor]

There are many questions that one does need to consider. How long has this been going on, maybe between these two, whatever. The little puke got what he deserved as the initiator of this bullying event. I do give support to the larger kid who had restraint from pummeling the puke after the first punch to the head. My opinion is that yes, if the bigger kid punched the little one, more damage could have been done. True, a lot of damage could have been done with the body slam, but I still think restraint was used. Pisses me off that another 'big kid' stepped in after the little one got crunched, but realized that he had better not do anything. More support to the bullied kid as he walked away from the situation. I think the point was made. School policies on suspension for aggressive behavior differ from one area to another. Do I believe the larger kid should be suspended, no, but yet one must realize that he should have just walked away and reported the event.

I still give him kudos for putting the little puke in his place.

By the way, I was a skinny kid who got picked on through school, and eventually did defend myself which suprized my attacker. Haven't had any problems since that time with him and remain friends today.......many, many, years later.

[Richard B the EMT]

I give an example: When in Junior High School, I was one of 5 Tenors in the chorus who was always used by the instructor to demonstrate how a particular line was supposed to have been sung. I was no star student in almost anything else except music.

We had a performance for the school, and the parents, the only such performance for that year, and some @#$%^&*()+=*&^%$# cut my name off the program, which I only discovered less than a half hour before "showtime". Mine was the only name excluded from the program, of some 200+ kids, as someone caught the missing names of the others, and had rubber stamps made to add the missing to the program.

My one piece of evidence of where I did good, and it never came to fruition. The teacher raised my final grade for the year 2 points as a compensation, as he rechecked the master list the day after the performance to find someone had drawn a line through my name!

Even that drew a bit of criticism, as another student held it against me that by the 2 point raise, she lost out having the highest final grade in Music in the school, as she had a 99, and I was given a 100.

Attitude has changed, on a national basis. At least now, both the educators and the psychologists agree that words can sometimes have even more impact than being hit with a baseball bat.