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Bullying is a serious, serious issue.
We allow, and some people indeed expect, children to go to school and put up with things that would land you in jail if you did them in a workplace.
Harassment that is so psychologically damaging that the victims literally feel like death is preferable.
For anyone to be against anti-bullying measures because they might (gasp) protect homosexuals from abuse also is insane. The simple fact of the matter is that kids are fucking vicious. I don't know if this is some kind of hard-wired biological defense mechanism that is used to protect the primeval herd or what, but the fact is, anyone who is different is likely going to be a target of abuse.
If you look different, dress different, talk different, are too smart, are too dumb, - anything that is out of the ordinary is likely to get you bullying attention.
All this kid had to do was open his mouth and it was obvious that he was gay, and I have no doubt that this set off the "gaydar" of the kids around him and then it was on. As an aside, it is mind-boggling to me that people can hear this sort of accent in kids 14-years-old and younger and think that being gay is a choice. Do you think this kid practiced his accent so he could sound gay? Come on.
As far as anti-bullying programs, I suppose it is good that we have them, but frankly I put zero stock in them. What they mostly are are ass-covers for the schools so that they can say they did something about bullying. But the fact is, students can't go to administrators about bullying, for several reasons.
First of all, it instantly makes you a tattle-tale. As if whatever difference they were picking on you for wasn't enough to garner ostracization, now the kid has the stigma of being a narc. On top of this it does not stop the bullying, it simply drives it underground. Instead of overt confrontation, you will suddenly find yourself the victim of pranks that cannot be traced back to anyone. Like notes stuck to your back, your books knocked out of your arms from behind, notes left in your bookbag, etc.
Secondly, if you do tell, or heaven forbid fight back, you will quite often run into these "neutral" or "zero tolerance" policies spoken of in the video. That is, the victim will be sat down with the bully and told to "shake hands and be friends". Or both parties will be equally admonished or punished for the altercation. What this instantly does is put the bully on equal moral footing with the victim. It reinforces the power position of the bully, as he knows the victim will be unlikely to report future attacks because the victim will be punished along with the bully. The victim feels more hopeless because they now feel that there is no one, not even the people in power, who will take their side and protect them.
Teachers are in a bind because frequently bullying comes down to a he-said/she-said situation. Without definitive proof of who was instigating faculty can be hesitant to act, for fear of the bully's parents coming to school and chewing out the faculty for coming down on innocent little johnny who would never bully anyone.
My experience was that the faculty almost certainly knows who the bullies are and who the victims are. You would have to be a stump to not have a sense for the social totem pole of a body of kids. People know who is at the top and they know who is at the bottom.
It used to be my opinion that the only option for victims of bullying was violence. Fight back. Fight back hard.
But fortunately, modern technology has come along to the point where I see another glimmer of hope, and it is something that I think all parents should be aware of and all victims of bullying: micro-miniature surveillance equipment. You can now buy "spy pens" for like $20. These look like ink pens but have audio/video cameras in them capable of recording hours of footage. Victims of bullying can and should carry these kinds of items, either on their person, or on their backpack, or in other unobtrusive places so as to record what is going on around them.
What this does is provides irrefutable proof that can be taken to school officials and they can be forced to act on them with the threat of a lawsuit if they do not. It provides evidence that can get the bully removed from the school.
And ultimately, if you want schools to act on this, proof is what it is going to take. Otherwise, they will continue to hold token anti-bullying class meetings and then kids will continue to die.
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