While I do think it's gone overboard in some ways with what it called bullying, we're also looking at bullying in extremes we've not dealt with before and that is pretty mind numbing. Social media has been a horrendous tool in the hands of bullies, who can take photos and videos, photo shop, use them in locker rooms, and instantly put stuff online for the entire school, community, and even the world to see. It can remain there forever, and within minutes, everyone can comment on what they post. Can you imagine being the victim of that, not just feeling like everyone is staring at you and saying stuff, but KNOWING they are and having their comments and words sitting there for you and your family and everyone else to see, over and over, possibly forever?
That could make any normal teenager (and now middle school, as they're joined the ranks in terms of growing up way too fast) go off their rocker in terms of strong emotions. Rage, depression, fear, anxiety, you name it. Just the stress of knowing it could happen must be tough to deal with on a regular basis, going to school and knowing everyone has a smart phone and is ready to use it against you. (or other things that access the internet, many parents and teachers are clueless and don't know their kids are online on an e-reader, an i-pod or other music device, tablets, or on a phone with blocked internet service because they're somewhere with free Wi-Fi, or a friend simply gave them a device to use and they're hiding it from you)
So yes, maybe we were made stronger in our day by dealing with it when we were older, but now there's a whole new class of bullying going on and a whole new level of danger, a new willingness for extreme violence and lack of shame in it. A lot more kids are desensitized to this stuff and even glory in it, take videos so they can watch what they caused over and over and share it with others.
So now we have kids with a lack of guilt and remorse, with a propensity for violence, picking on kids who are not allowed to fight back and don't seem to be taught how to cope, just told to either "tell an adult" or "learn to get along."
How do you start to fix that?
You have to admit, it's not an easy problem.
A school isn't allowed to say "just smack the bully and he/she will stop." They legally cannot turn a blind eye to one person striking another person. Everyone is way too sue happy. While it may be ridiculous, think of it from the school's side. The people who have sued and sued, call them BULLIES, force schools to resort to these ridiculous levels and zero tolerance policies. A kid can't even trip on their own untied shoelace without someone threatening to sue, then people get mad when they ban dodgeball? What do you THINK they're going to do when it comes to kids actually fighting? Of course they're going to be forced into zero tolerance for that, or they're going to go broke with the lawsuits, right?
What would be a reasonable thing for them to do, that would actually work and keep them from getting sued?
It's a good topic.
