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Bullying has been around since the dawn of man. It won't stop, so people better learn better ways to cope with it.
Maybe parents should teach their kids to stand up and fight back against bullies- instead of infantilizing them and teaching them to think of themselves as perpetual victims of the world with no power to help themselves -then maybe there wouldn't be so many suicides of late?
I think it's far more troublesome that teenagers today are so weak and easily manipulated and susceptible to suggestion.
Yes yes yes...stand up for yourself. BUT address the problem as presented. Blackmail, internet slander, twitter, stalking, etc. A little girl can't fight back against that. Either can you.
There's a reason you rarely hear children say things like racial epithets. We as a society -- from teachers, to parents, to school administrators, to everyone -- have drawn a line in the sand that calling someone the n-word, s-word, f-word, etc. will NOT be tolerated. We don't excuse that kind of language or thinking as part of growing up, or kids being kids. We've been so succesful in instilling this message into our youth that even the ones that want to say it, only feel comfortable saying it in the confines of their group.
Why can't we stigmatize bullying the same way?
I don't mean to be rude and I seriously don't know what world you live in, but the kids I hear in my neighbourhood call each other n*g*e*, s*u*, b*t*h etc. kids are cruel, and it sucks.
Bullying has been around since the dawn of man. It won't stop, so people better learn better ways to cope with it.
Maybe parents should teach their kids to stand up and fight back against bullies- instead of infantilizing them and teaching them to think of themselves as perpetual victims of the world with no power to help themselves -then maybe there wouldn't be so many suicides of late?
I think it's far more troublesome that teenagers today are so weak and easily manipulated and susceptible to suggestion.
What a concept. Bullying isn't new, and its happening right now in this forum. Now again a young person who does not have the right instincts in the wrong situation is in a social meat grinder. It should be assumed to be occurring in any group of kids at some level. Trying to stop the bullies is idiotic. You teach the victim how to win themselves into the group.
Yes yes yes...stand up for yourself. BUT address the problem as presented. Blackmail, internet slander, twitter, stalking, etc. A little girl can't fight back against that. Either can you.
Thank you for keeping the salient points clear. Let's not forget 5-1 or 20-1 attack.
While I respect the guys' point of view on this thread, the OP a combat vet from Vietnam ( thank you for your service ) is comparing himself to a petite little girl. Of course him and I can handle it easier we are guys who have been in fights she hasn't. We know how to take the attack to attackers. How many teen girls have that life experience. None
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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What's with these people telling sad stories with palm cards filmed and black and white? If I were cynical I'd say it's becoming almost popular, perhaps you know, if I die I might as well get some publicity out of it.
Of course what happened to her is tragic. Goes without saying the internet is still a dangerous place - deceptively so. Sending pics of your breasts to strangers, goes without saying that's a no no, but of course she never expected it to blow up like that. The creep who did that, I guess what he did was cruel and mean, but if only she had been able to handle it better. I mean it's not the end of the world. That's why I'm wary of facebook, what people can just snap of me and put up for the world to see. The other stuff is really sad, I'd like to think a minority of really mean-spirited people are like that but I think it's getting worse. It's easy to dismiss it but when you're actually experiencing it it's something else. I wasn't bullied anything like this, but even being alone with no friends in school because of my shyness made me feel really depressed about things. It's hard to have perspective on things as a teen, that's why they're so vulnerable to suicide and self-harm. My advice to teens is to be 100% honest with friends and family: those who leave you don't really care about you. Trying to hide things because you're afraid of further embarrassment is the worse thing you should do. Your family should be there to help you, not condemn/judge you. It's obvious a lot of Amanda's friends were fake friends.
What's with these people telling sad stories with palm cards filmed and black and white? If I were cynical I'd say it's becoming almost popular, perhaps you know, if I die I might as well get some publicity out of it.
Of course what happened to her is tragic. Goes without saying the internet is still a dangerous place - deceptively so. Sending pics of your breasts to strangers, goes without saying that's a no no, but of course she never expected it to blow up like that. The creep who did that, I guess what he did was cruel and mean, but if only she had been able to handle it better. I mean it's not the end of the world. That's why I'm wary of facebook, what people can just snap of me and put up for the world to see. The other stuff is really sad, I'd like to think a minority of really mean-spirited people are like that but I think it's getting worse. It's easy to dismiss it but when you're actually experiencing it it's something else. I wasn't bullied anything like this, but even being alone with no friends in school because of my shyness made me feel really depressed about things. It's hard to have perspective on things as a teen, that's why they're so vulnerable to suicide and self-harm. My advice to teens is to be 100% honest with friends and family: those who leave you don't really care about you. Trying to hide things because you're afraid of further embarrassment is the worse thing you should do. Your family should be there to help you, not condemn/judge you. It's obvious a lot of Amanda's friends were fake friends.
Yes.
Sometimes when I read stories like this (and I've read a lot in my years...even pre internet days) it seems to me there is just a perfect storm of horrible, weak willed people involved. I can't count the times I've heard about a kid being bullied, being the scapegoat and target for everyone at school, no reason except for sport and even teachers not giving a flying fig, only to move to a new town or state or school and have no problems at all. That says something. And it's fortunate it doesn't happen more often but I think most place have people there who will stand up and put a stop to things before it gets out of hand. It's herd mentality but luckily enough people buck the herd these days to keep some kind of balance. I also wonder if some of these kids aren't vulnerable already by way of emotional and mential issues that may not be diagnosed.
Mankind did not rise to be the dominant species on this planet by passing laws, it was by fists, swords, bows and arrows and spears....
Societies rose as a dominant power in the world because of their strength, their will to survive no matter what the odds, not their laws....
The same laws of nature still hold true today, the weak-willed and people with no backbone to stand up for themselves disappear off the face of the Earth.....
It's mean, it's cruel but that's how life is, the strong survive, the weak perish....
Yes yes yes...stand up for yourself. BUT address the problem as presented. Blackmail, internet slander, twitter, stalking, etc. A little girl can't fight back against that. Either can you.
Thank you.
This thread pisses me off. This was a skinny young kid. Somebody was giving out naked pictures of her to everyone she knew, her parents got her in counseling and kept transferring her to 3 different schools trying to give her chances to start over, only to have the same gossip spread each time. This kid was being tormented. Every time she made friends they would end up distancing themselves from her if not hting her outright. It had to seem like it would never end. She had 3 more years of high school to go and if she went to college one could bet it might follow her there too. Then she finally has one person who cares, or so she thinks, only to have it blow up in her face and end in a mass beats own. I mean, people are even calling this girl and telling her she should die. She tries to commit suicide and instead of sympathy, people are wishing it worked to her face.
How does anyone see that and think some young hormonal teen, whose already in a deep depression, was supposed to just "suck it up". This wasn't one mean girl bothering her. This was 3 communities full of her peers. There was no place to get away from it. It happened at school and at home. Messages in her inbox. People on her voicemail. She was literally shunned by everyone she knew not her parents. Does anyone remember what being an insecure teenager is like?
I'm stunned people can imply this girl was "too weak" with a straight face.
I'll bet in this situation (5 on 1) you would have peed in your pants in fear and sped away crying:
Then you would be wrong. I would be smarter and use the bigger weapon the car.
Buy hey fine you are entitled to your own opinion. I am done. I made my point we don't agree I am moving on.
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