hedge said:
I think we can blame this rise of weirdos on the lack of bullying. I think bullying can be a good thing to an extent. Lots of weirdos would be better off if they were bullied as kids and overcame that bullying
The problem is not a lack of bullying. ask any teacher or kud. bullying still happens. it is an aspect of social interaction especially amongst kids and teenagers that never disappears.
the PROBLEM is that we have castrated kids to the point that they are forced to rely on authority figures to address the buying without allowing kids to first address it amongst themselves.
this has forced the victims of bullying to do one of three things when confronted with a bully.
1) Tattle to authority. in children's social groups this gets u labeled as a rat and can lead to the victim being socially shunned which is emotionally damaging to the kid because tattling is seen as the cowards way out. then on top of knowing ur gonna be a social pariah for tattling u run the additional risk of the authority figures not believing you, not being able to protect u, or not being willing to protect you. so after you tattle any social protection from the rest of the herd is gone because you're a rat and now the bullying gets worse because the bully now is trying to seek retribution for you tattling and now knows the consequences of their bullying actions are minor to nonexistent.
2) Defend themselves knowing that even if done in self defense if they fight back they will be punished to the same extent as the bully- which is not just. so why risk bodily harm- and you could very well lose the fight if you will be punished on top of it. and not only that but you will receive the exact same punishment as your tormentor.
3) Do nothing and continue to suffer whatever physical, mental, and emotional torture the individual who now owns your life decides to meet out upon you.
These anti fighting and antibullying initiatives have done the exact opposite of help any bullying, they have made it so that for victims of bullying there is very rarely a course of action they can take in which the consequences that result from taking action to defend themselves is preferable to suffering daily torment.
so many victims suffer under that torture until they become so bitter about the world which is unjust and unfair and miserable that the only action they can see which is preferable to continuous unjust suffering is to obtain as much revenge on their tormentors and the people who act in the system which has encouraged their tormentor as possible. and the next thing you know we have another columbine.
