Boomers, what were expected of victims of bullying when you were in school? (jobs, town)

[zentropa]

My parents called their parents and threatened to involve the police. It worked. That was in the early 1970s.

Back then, parents saw their children's behaviour as a reflection of themselves, so they made much more effort to enforce it.

[Pilot1]

There was no internet. All the bullying was done at the bus stop, on the bus, at school, at the park, and any other places kids would congregate. Yes, we were told to just man up, and deal with it, even by our parents. If parents did confront one another about it they were always told "boys will be boys" so the only thing you could do about it was fight back, so that is what we did.

[eureka1]

We didn't have bullying when I was in school. It wasn't tolerated.

[whogo]

I’d just beat one of the bullies up.

[Hapa1]

Originally Posted by eureka1

We didn't have bullying when I was in school. It wasn't tolerated.

How did your school manage that? It’s impossible to stop bullying altogether.

[Nanny Goat]

Nothing done. They didn't address issues like nowadays. Those in authority mostly pretended they didn't hear or see anything.

[Enigma777]

Ignore them, don't engage--they are usually just very small insecure people who act and talk big.

[Ralph_Kirk]

Bullies are not insecure. They've very secure.

The big difference between now and then is that back then the school authorities would generally ask: "Who started it?"

There was less support for bullies then than there has been over the last couple of decades, where the most likely response of authorities is to equally punish both the bully and the victim...and the victim almost always has more to lose.

[jbgusa]

Originally Posted by Pilot1

There was no internet. All the bullying was done at the bus stop, on the bus, at school, at the park, and any other places kids would congregate. Yes, we were told to just man up, and deal with it, even by our parents. If parents did confront one another about it they were always told "boys will be boys" so the only thing you could do about it was fight back, so that is what we did.

The other medium for bullying was "phony phone calls", sometimes in the wee hours. One notable bully called my parents at 1:00 a.m. to tell them I was "palsied." That same person told me, about my father, "it served him right for smoking" when he was about 10 hours away from death. That same person walked up to a Chinese girl and said "uh-so, your father works in rice paddy."

Originally Posted by Hapa1

How did your school manage that? It’s impossible to stop bullying altogether.

A sleepaway camp I went to had a "one warning, then 'separation'" or being sent home policy. For smoking it was "separation" on first time.

[BentBow]

There has only been one way and only one way to handle anyone that uses threats to intimidate you.
It is not the time to #Walkaway.
One thing my dad taught me that has got me out of some hairy situations.
"Buck up kid and face your fears"