The disgusting effects of bullying... (1 Viewer)

[Optimus Prime]

From a couple of months ago
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Two days before 8-year-old Gabriel Taye ended his life, his classmates wandered around him as he lay motionless on a bathroom floor.

They nudged and poked him, a school surveillance video shows, but no one helped until an assistant principal walked in several minutes later.

Gabriel’s parents allege that the Cincinnati school never told them what had happened, but instead said their son had fainted.

Carson Elementary School officials argue that the third-grade student never mentioned being hurt by other children and had no visible injuries.

In a legal battle stemming from Gabriel’s suicide, school district administrators contended Wednesday that they are immune from liability because they have no responsibility to eliminate violence between students, Courthouse News Service reported.

The comments came in a hearing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit after the school appealed a lower court judge’s refusal to dismiss the parents’ wrongful-death lawsuit..........

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/12/05/an-year-old-killed-himself-after-being-bullied-police-say-school-district-wants-immunity/

 

[Optimus Prime]

Thoughts about when the bullied fight back?

I’m pretty solidly in the ‘good for you’ camp

Everyone who has been bullied if they didn’t seriously consider fighting back they definitely seriously fantasized about it

Some people say ‘two wrongs don’t make a right’

Where were those people when it was ‘one wrong is wrong’?

I’d be surprised if this bullying went completely unnoticed but only when the bullied kid fights back is there discipline? And the bully gets the lighter sentence?

Fork that

And I don’t care how many Afterschool Specials you watch sometimes the only thing bullies understand is getting a dose of their own medicine and getting their butt kicked in front of everyone
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And yet this weekend, as a plaque for Shepard was announced by Washington National Cathedral, where his body is interred, queer America lit up in bloodthirst, delighting in the spectacle of two 11th-graders who fought each other over one calling the other a gay slur.

The recipient of the slur, Jordan Steffy, slapped his aggressor resoundingly before unleashing a torrent of punches as classmates recorded it from all angles and their teacher issued a halfhearted reprimand.

The school suspended both boys — Steffy for longer — and Steffy’s mother reportedly has pulled him out of school, opting to home-school him, instead.

What about any of that is worth celebrating, let alone holding up as exemplary behavior?

And yet “gay Twitter” exploded with cheer. “This baby slapped him with the hands of Harvey Milk and EVERY ancestor at Stone Wall,” wrote one fan.

“I am def always against violence of any kind,” wrote the fashion designer Prabal Gurung, who is often celebrated for his inclusivity and feminism, “but this video felt cathartic.

I too should have been like this dude who fought back and slapped the s--- out of those homophobic demons back when I was growing up.”.............

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/11/12/queer-teen-fought-his-bully-theres-nothing-applaud-here/

 

[Sun Wukong]

Thoughts about when the bullied fight back?

I’m pretty solidly in the ‘good for you’ camp

Everyone who has been bullied if they didn’t seriously consider fighting back they definitely seriously fantasized about it

Some people say ‘two wrongs don’t make a right’

Where were those people when it was ‘one wrong is wrong’?

I’d be surprised if this bullying went completely unnoticed but only when the bullied kid fights back is there discipline? And the bully gets the lighter sentence?

Fork that

And I don’t care how many Afterschool Specials you watch sometimes the only thing bullies understand is getting a dose of their own medicine and getting their butt kicked in front of everyone
=========================

I have no problem with someone defending themselves or sending a message after they've been screwed with for too long. But in my experience (and this is only my experience), the whole "Bullies only understand violence and if you stand up for yourself they'll leave you alone" thing is a Hollywood trope that doesn't have a lot of basis in reality. Movies show a bullied kid fight back and it resolves the problem. In real life, I can't think of any bullying situation we've dealt with (and there have been so, so many) that didn't ESCALATE when the bullied kid fought back. And the escalation usually takes one of two forms: the bully immediately looks for retribution meaning when they get back from suspension he's spoiling for another fight or looking to get at the kid off school grounds, or he recruits friends to his cause and they start collectively targeting the kid in a more long term/drawn out form of bullying.

Or the bullied kid fights back and gets absolutely hammered. Which obviously leaves us back at square one except with added violence.

 

[sfidc3]

Or the bullied kid fights back and gets absolutely hammered. Which obviously leaves us back at square one except with added violence.

Yeah, it sounds great and feels good when a bullied kid/person fights back but I would be willing to bet the outcome is more often what you allude to above....I'm pretty solidly in the violence begets violence camp....

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

From a couple of months ago
======================
Two days before 8-year-old Gabriel Taye ended his life, his classmates wandered around him as he lay motionless on a bathroom floor.

They nudged and poked him, a school surveillance video shows, but no one helped until an assistant principal walked in several minutes later.

Gabriel’s parents allege that the Cincinnati school never told them what had happened, but instead said their son had fainted.

Carson Elementary School officials argue that the third-grade student never mentioned being hurt by other children and had no visible injuries.

In a legal battle stemming from Gabriel’s suicide, school district administrators contended Wednesday that they are immune from liability because they have no responsibility to eliminate violence between students, Courthouse News Service reported.

The comments came in a hearing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit after the school appealed a lower court judge’s refusal to dismiss the parents’ wrongful-death lawsuit..........

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/12/05/an-year-old-killed-himself-after-being-bullied-police-say-school-district-wants-immunity/

On an individual basis, I would never tell anyone they shouldnt defend themselves
as a general rule, it does not move the needle bc it tacitly endorses the bully’s tactics (at best it’s using methadone to treat heroin addiction)
id be interested to see what efficacy restorative justice has on both sides of the bully coin

 

[nolaspe]

Looks like Quaden's family has decided to donate all of the raised gofundme funds to 2 charities instead of using some $ to go to Disneyland...

Quaden Bayles: Bullied boy's family turns down trip to Disneyland

Relatives of the Australian nine-year-old say they will give the crowdfunded cash to charity.

www.bbc.com

More than $308,000 (£240,000) has since been given to an online campaign.

His family told local media that they were touched by the gesture, but wanted to focus on "the real issue".

"This little fellow has been bullied. How many suicides, black or white, in our society have happened due to bullying?," his aunt, Mundanara Bayles, told NITV.

"We want the money to go to community organisations that really need it," she added. "As much as we want to go to Disneyland, I think our community would far off benefit from that."

The family said they would like to give the money to two charities: Dwarfism Awareness Australia, and the Balunu Healing Foundation.