Schools Group Wants Anti-Bullying Bill To Protect Gays, Others

[The Straight Story]

Schools Group Wants Anti-Bullying Bill To Protect Gays, Others

POSTED: 3:34 pm EST March 13, 2006

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Students, parents and other members of the Florida Safe Schools Coalition urged lawmakers Monday to pass legislation aimed at preventing bullying and harassment but to oppose a measure they say would weaken existing policies in some districts.

Both bills would require that school districts establish policies prohibiting harassment ranging from teasing to violence. But Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff's legislation would prohibit singling out certain groups for protection such as racial and ethnic minorities and homosexuals.

Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, said she excluded those categories on advice from Bully Police USA, an organization founded by Brenda High of Pasco, Wash., after her 13-year-old son, Jared, committed suicide in 1998 following constant bullying.

"All children deserve the right to go to school and be safe," Bogdanoff said. "Mine is an anti-bullying bill that focuses on the behavior of the bully."

Her bill (HB 535) would scrap policies such as those in Miami-Dade and Broward counties that specifically bar harassment based on factors that include gender, ethnicity, race, religion, marital status or sexual orientation, American Civil Liberties Union spokeswoman Rebecca Steele said.

http://www.local6.com/news/7967943/detail.html

[Lost-in-FL]

1. Can someone explain why is this a good thing?

Seriously, I don't ask just to piss people off but until when are we going to overprotect kids? Isn't this a little over the top? What kind of men/women are we going to bring up? We don't have to look far to realize that other kids in the world have it MUCH worse.

[mzteris]

3. Well - if you look at it that way

maybe we should just kick and beat our kids. Callin' them names is a GOOD thing, eh?

Because some other kids have it worse (like having their homes bombed by US planes).

You think keeping kids from being BULLIED is being OVERPROTECTIVE??

You don't have kids, do you?

[Lost-in-FL]

10. You are overeacting...

I am not talking about disciplining kids, I am trying to have an adult talk on how this is such a great idea. I did went through a lot of that in school (bulling) and had the support of my parents who taught me to be strong. BecAUse I dealt with it on my own, that made me a stronger person. I am not trying to be a bitch, I am only saying that at the end we are putting the future leaders of this world on a disadvantage by not preparing them for life. I think school officials involvement is ok but not to the point of writing laws.

How do you think kids are going to react to the Bush's and Cheney's of the World?

And yes... I DON'T have kids and WON'T have them because of what I went through in school.

[mzteris]

21. Wait

you "won't have kids" because of what you "went through in school" - yet you don't see the need to limit bullying?

hmmmmmm........

Besides, you could always homeschool.

[Lost-in-FL]

24. Bulling is part of human behavior...

It is not an anomaly, it is just being human. It is a way for some to control the masses and happens on all species of animals. I think is important that nature runs it course (Natural Selection). Call me crazy... but that's what I believe.

[mzteris]

27. Ok -

you're crazy.

:rofl:

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Seriously, I couldn't disagree with you more. If you haven't read Lord of the Flies, I suggest you do.

[Lost-in-FL]

33. Oh boy...

I hope school officials don't make laws based on fictional accounts.:eyes:

and yup... I am crazy and proud :evilgrin:

[mzteris]

36. I'm not talking about school officials

I'm talking about your saying you think "nature should take it's course" in the course of bullying. . .

Do you really think that unchecked bullying is a good thing? I refer you back to bushco . . .

[undergroundpanther]

30. Lost in Fla.

You are an enabler.

Bullying is not natural. If it was humans would not be so psychologically wounded and kill themselves from the trauma bullies caused them.
Bullies traumatize. Social domination by bullies is an aberration in an individual that disables humans.
Social justice against bullies who are de evolved aberrations is self defense and defense of some of the most advanced evolved members of a social group...

[Chovexani]

70. UP I knew you would show up to school this clown

Gods. Even on DU people are fucking clueless.

[dsc]

34. So are all kinds of things we don't let people do

Murder is part of human behavior, rape is part of human behavior, theft is part of human behavior.

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[WindRavenX]

39. "Running like little bitches" ? Well hello sexism

You are revealing a whole lot of ignorance and ugly in you.

[Lost-in-FL]

40. Just giving examples

"You are revealing a whole lot of ignorance and ugly in you." Now that is bulling...

[LostinVA]

51. First, it is bullying, not bulling

And yes, using derogatory gender-based names to show weakness, etc. in someone can show ugliness and ignorance in a person.

[Lost-in-FL]

56. I am sorry...

No one here in DU has ever used that "derogatory gender-based " phrase.:eyes:

[LostinVA]

82. Of course they do, and I call them out on it all the time

And get posts deleted. Just as I called you out on it. I am treating you exactly as I treat everyone else on here.

So, quit with the eye rolling smiley, because you have no rational reason to use it with me. This, it's arrogant instead of ironic.

[WindRavenX]

57. No I'm not

You're equating that being weak is related to being female. I call out sexism when I see it.

[Lost-in-FL]

58. The topic is bullying... not sexism

Perhaps I used the wrong example. There's no need to get personal about my indiscretion.

[WindRavenX]

59. sexism and homophobia are interconnected to bullying

And your connecting weakness with femininity shows it.

[Lost-in-FL]

61. Ok... homophobia.

What about it? Did I said something about homophobia? I don't remember saying anything against homosexuals.
Going back to the subject, I was just wondering why "Lawmakers" should make a law about bullying. I don't think that is their place. Can school officals and parents do something about it? Lawmakers are already doing a lousy job funding schools. FL voted to have small class sizes and Mr Jebby Bush is playing stupid about that. There have been no changes (that I know about) about something people here in FL voted overwhelmingly so we are to trust this people with this?

IMO, school officials and parents can take care of that. I just disagree on writing laws for that. I still believe there's much important issues.

[countingbluecars]

62. Your argument has changed. n/t

[Lost-in-FL]

64. Yes... is that a bad thing?

:shrug: I still think overprotecting kids could be detrimental in the future. There's a lot of things I did not said (typed) but are going around my head. I can say there's other problems beside bullying that can be addressed like sex education, discrimination (which can lead to bullying), etc.

[mondo joe]

68. Please be specific. What detriment do you imagine as as result of kids

being permitted to get an education without harassment?

[Lost-in-FL]

69. Like being unable to make desicions on their own in the future????

Because they rely on their parents, school and government to solve their school yard feuds? Again, you might think am I a mean spirited person but one must think about their future. How can they be able to protect themselves when no one is looking. Do you really think kids always tell their parents that they are being harrased at school?? No. Some parents find out when their kids are dead. I think the effort should be spent on education, not making laws. Make me think of Bill Maher with the "New Rules". By the end of the school years children will only learn how to behave or not in school and anything else.

[mondo joe]

71. I'm sorry - did you think only kids who are bullied are able to

make decisions? On what do you base this?

How about being so damaged by bullying you commit suicide? Or drop out? Or - hey! - are so damaged you won't have children of your own?

Now which strikes you as a greater risk - the things we know happen because of bullying, or the thing you imagine but can't back up?

[Lost-in-FL]

73. I am not trying to prove or win an argument here...

I am just voicing my opinion. I don't think this is a competition.

I am not the first or last person who won't want to have kids, there's plenty of kids needing homes already. Also, there's plenty of other kids around the world suffering and people worry about one kid in the US that's crying cause he's being bullied for not having the money to buy a game boy?? Do you think they care about bullying in New Orleans?? in Iraq?? in China??

[mondo joe]

74. Good thing!

You can voice your opinion. Don't be surprised when your errors are pointed out.

By what standard have you determined that because kids in Iraq have bigger problems we shouldn't be concerned about the safety of kids in the US?

How about those Iraqi women - they have bigger problems than sexual harassment. Should we abandon those laws too?

Since you're offering opinions I'll offer mine - I think you were bullied and have rationalized the failure of others to do their job to protect you, and to maintain that rationalization you have to project it onto other kids.

[Lost-in-FL]

76. This has nothing to do with me...

"By what standard have you determined that because kids in Iraq have bigger problems we shouldn't be concerned about the safety of kids in the US?

How about those Iraqi women - they have bigger problems than sexual harassment. Should we abandon those laws too?"

Come on... In comparison, kids here (and of course is a good thing) have it MUCH better (well, it all depends on how 2008 goes).

"Since you're offering opinions I'll offer mine - I think you were bullied and have rationalized the failure of others to do their job to protect you, and to maintain that rationalization you have to project it onto other kids."

Are you a psychologist? Please.

[mondo joe]

77. You didn't answer me. Should we abandon sexual harassment laws because

women in Iraq have bigger problems?

And since you brought up your own history, you put it on the table -- you can't then say it's not about you. You already made it about you.

[Lost-in-FL]

80. You are joking... right?

[mondo joe]

81. Please answer the question. Thank you.

[countingbluecars]

72. Yes, "one must think about their future".

How does allowing kids to bully others prepare them for the future? What kind of decisions will kids allowed to cause pain to others make in the future? Will they make good spouses, parents, coworkers?
And what of the victims of bullying-those kids that are called fag, fat, ugly, etc, on a constant basis?
Think what it does to them.


I sure hope you don't work with kids!

[Lost-in-FL]

75. I am not calling for bullying fests here

I don't even know the statistics about how many kids suffer because from this but it can't be that many. OF COURSE I MUST SAY it takes one hurt kid to hurt many others, no doubt about it. I just don't think is as big as is shown.

[mondo joe]

63. Lawmakers can decided that schools HAVE TO DO something about it.

Are you under the impression that the legislature can only pass one law and so it must be the single most important issue?

Or did you know the legislature can address MANY issues - even the matter of protecting children, as silly as you may find it.

[Lost-in-FL]

66. The legislature can pass any law they want...

but then why waist manpower and tax money to get to that conclusion. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Now, if we are talking about a "symbolic" bill I guess it is ok (still a waste of time and money).

[mondo joe]

67. Protecting kids (to say nothing of the legal liability to school districts

that fail to do so) isn't a "waist" of anything - or even a waste!

Let's see -- protecting vulnerable state residents, limiting liability and ensuring residents complete education and are more competetive.

What exactly is the waste here?

[mondo joe]

60. And schools should be required to take measures to keep kids

safe and healthy while in school.

[proud2BlibKansan]

43. Not in my universe

Humans are not animals. Biologically yes but psychologically no.

[mondo joe]

44. Plenty of human behavior is - and should be - illegal.

If you were bullied at work the way a lot of kids are at school and management refused to intervene you could have a nice lawsuit on your hands.

[LostinVA]

52. And would be able to have them arrested, too...

[LostinVA]

48. No, it is a part of sociopathic behavior -- seriously

"normal" kids don't bully... it is an aggressive, nasty, controlling behaviour... and is linked to sociopathic characteristics.

[LostinVA]

46. Agreed -- those statements don't jibe

Children kill themselves because of bullying... it sometimes that adults do not have to put up with in life, so why should kids???

[mondo joe]

50. If you won't have kids because you were bullied you are demonstrating

harm caused by bullying.

If you're the example of the kind of adult we get when bullying is permitted, it must by all means be prevented.

[ThomCat]

4. As someone who was bullied violently as a kid

I can see this as a very good thing. Too many adults look away saying, "well, it's just something that kids have to learn to deal with."

Everyone deserves to be safe from violence and harrassment. It shouldn't be accepted, and anything that helps protect these kids is a good thing.

[countingbluecars]

5. "What kind of men/women are we going to bring up?"

What kind of men/women are we going to bring up if we allow them to harass and bully others?

[proud2BlibKansan]

41. Zing!!

Beat me to it - darn you.

:hi:

[LostinVA]

53. Maybe socially tolerant and compassionate people?

ooooh... what a bad thing!

[yngliberal]

6. Interesting...

I was bullied for four years before I went to an alternative school. I constantly told the administration but they didn't do anything about it. During those four years, I thought about killing myself many times but decided not to do it. Bullying destroys lives.

Parents want to blame all of these school shootings on video games but one of the main reasons they happen are because of kids getting bullied who want to retaliate.

[KurtNYC]

8. I cringe when I hear stories about kids who are told to "just ignore it"

Indifference on the part of school administrations is a recipe for disaster. Any kind of injustice which is allowed to stand has the potential to unleash some kind of backlash. Columbine was an extreme form of this kind of thing. NOT addressing bullying in a meaningful way would be a very bad idea.

Welcome to DU!

[northofdenali]

9. Your insight is very much to the point.

I've seen suicidal reactions in so many kids whose only real problem was that they are "different" (read, artistic, highly intelligent, not into sports, musical, etc.) and that they are bullied because of it.

[undergroundpanther]

16. It's always the sensitive ones

The gentle,creative awkwards smart and different.

Sometimes it makes me want to scream.

I was bullied and the teachers just sat there watching they did nothing.
Over and over this went on teachers looked the other way school admin did nothing.
One day in art class I had a migraine and the bullies thought it would be fun to whap my head with heavy art books..
That day I exploded I trashed a classroom in a rage.
The principle was going to suspend ME, the bullies faced no such restrictions.
I had a grand total of a week without bullying.

I hate all bullies and the"alpha" types. I think they are a degenerate kind of human.And I don't tolerate them and thier sadistic antics at all.
I am sensitive maybe if more people were there would be less bullying bullshit.

[proud2BlibKansan]

42. That's an excellent point

BTW, welcome to DU :hi:

I am so sorry to hear of your bad experiences. I hope alterntative school was a better place for you.

You bring up such a great point, though. One of the worst bullies at the school where I teach was a kid who was small for his age, wore mascara and fingernail polish, told the kids he wore girls underwear, and beat the shit out of anyone who laughed at him. He was such a sad kid. He obviously had sexual identity issues and his older brother beat on him at home. Our principal literally begged his mother to get him some counseling. He would be in high school now. He's one of those kids I expect to hear about in a crime report some day. :cry:

[mondo joe]

45. Protecting kids from bullying isn't "overprotecting".

How do you feel about laws regarding sexual harassment?

Overprotective?

[LostinVA]

54. What kind of woman are we raising? They need to just suck it up!

A little sexual harassment will help them deal with being groped and even sexually assaulted. I mean, come on! We are really overprotecting women here... they need to stand on their own two feet and ignore that assaulter.

[Bluebear]

78. Try being on the other side of gaybashing/bullying & then we'll talk

"after her 13-year-old son, Jared, committed suicide in 1998 following constant bullying."

That doesn't ring any bells for you that all children deserve to be protected?

[LostinVA]

83. Of course not! Why, they need to be toughened ups o they can grow up....

Oh... guess it's kinda hard for a boy to grow up into a "tough" man after he kills himself because of school-yard torment.

[Warren DeMontague]

79. HUH? What possible good comes out of letting kids bully each other?

You've gotta be kidding. School should be for LEARNING- not having to worry that some sadistic psychopath kid is going to kick your ass every day out behind the bike racks.

[ThomCat]

2. In theory

I agree that protection from bullying should be neutral and available to everyone.

In practive, bullies target people based on vulnerabilities, and that means things like race, ethicity, religion, and sexual orientation. protection from bullies needs to be available to everyone as the baseline, but any intelligent program needs to take the targetting into account.

Duh.

[The Straight Story]

7. I think too that socio-economic is a big thing for bullies

We had busing here when I was in school and quite a mix of well to do and those on the lower scale (I was lower middle). More than anything else people picked on disadvantaged kids. I was picked on at times (not too often) but mainly because I carried my bible to school with me to read.

[undergroundpanther]

13. That's ironic

I was bullied for being pagan with a Native American Father.
Got hauled to the principle for a talk about"evil" and "god" if I wore my pentagram outside my shirt.
Bullying is bad and people that exusde it are bystanders or enablers. Ever notice bully parents act as if thier sociopath child can do no wrong when they are confronted.

Don't bystand,tolerate,excuse or enable bullies wgherever they are regardless of what culture says or what excuses bullies make.

[The Straight Story]

19. One cool thing out of it all I remember though

Our bus driver was a hippy, cool guy named dave (I only remember 2 bus drivers, one was named Skip and I still have his autograph in one of my books 'kisses of calvary', he was an awesome guy). I was getting off the bus at school one day wearing a shirt I had with a drawing of Jesus on it. I think he must have heard a few of the kids joking about it.

As I was stepping off he said, loud enough for others to hear, "Hey, Jesus is cool man." And I don't recall people ever talking smack about it again on the bus to me, they all liked dave.

Most the kids that picked on me and others were what we called 'hoods' back in the day. I remember one of them, shortly after I quit school, was arrested for killing his step father and beating his mom to near death with a baseball bat.

[undergroundpanther]

23. dave..

I was getting off the bus at school one day wearing a shirt I had with a drawing of Jesus on it. I think he must have heard a few of the kids joking about it.
As I was stepping off he said, loud enough for others to hear, "Hey, Jesus is cool man." And I don't recall people ever talking smack about it again on the bus to me, they all liked dave.


Wow.Dave Was cool! He was not a bystander. Did you know 90 some percent of bullying situations are defused when someone decides to go against the conforming obedient HERD and STAND UP for the victim of a bully?
One thing I have found is shaming the dominator's works,the dominator's always whine or call you the asshole,But persevere...All bullies seek to have a posse of "deployable defenders" and cheerleaders of sheep around themselves. If the bully is shamed by a respected person the bully loses his social rank that he exploits to act out his power trips..



Most the kids that picked on me and others were what we called 'hoods' back in the day. I remember one of them, shortly after I quit school, was arrested for killing his step father and beating his mom to near death with a baseball bat.

Damn what a little sociopath. I hope he was locked up forever.
Some of these bullies are dangerous and need to be kept away from others forever. I am glad he didn't beat you to death.
I hate sociopaths,I would just exterminate them if there was a foolproof way to detect the ones that will not change.

[The Straight Story]

29. One of these guys, Jimmy

Is still a hood, but not to me. We grew up together and he lives two doors down from me (I bought the house next door to dad). Jimmy grew up in a damn rough home. His brother was murdered and jimmy burned the guy's house down and then ran him over. Did 6 years for it.

He is still rough. Can't find work with his convictions, shoots his guns out back about once a week to keep em in good working order, and still deals some drugs here and there. But his family and mine have always gotten along. His kids play with my daughter (at my house) and he is one of the few people left in the hood here that decorate for halloween and pass out candy.

He is one mean SOB to a lot of people, but for once 'the bully' is on my side and no one ever bothers us here. One neighbor was a crack dealer (jimmy does pot) and tried to mess with me once. Jimmy went to his house with a gun and told him never to screw with anyone around here again (he beat me to it, cause I had a rifle loaded and only reason I did not go to his house was wife was opposed). This guy was, weekly, running and hiding from the cops. He beat his wife almost daily (we nick named him 'wife beater') and was constantly in trouble.

He has since been arrested and a really nice older couple bought the house and fixed it up nice. No trouble out of them :) except the cops showed up one day as the old man has alzheimers and was out side with an axe planning on hurting himself. They tasered him (he is 80). It was quite sad last Feburary as they were both outside in the snow looking for their dog. I went out and help them get the dog and the old lady asked how mom was. She was good friends with mom. She did not know she had passed away and it hit her like a ton of bricks. We were so caught up in all of it all we did not tell her initially, usually things spread this hood like wild fire.

[ThomCat]

14. I agree.

Poor kids get it from the middle class kids all the time. I remember feeling ashamed of being poor...

[undergroundpanther]

18. Yeah I know

I was poor but I would embellish my clothes creatively because it was fun and I liked the way it looked . A little embroidery or paint here or there made old jeans beautiful. I wore unusual goodwill finds I used to have a black mink cape,got it for 25 bucks because it was out of style but I thought it was cool. I am artistic. I would make my own clothes and stuff. I didn't like"normal" fashion,it was boring.I still don't like it now. And I like millions of others paid for my creative non conformity with a case of PSTD and years in the hospitals..
So Yeah I really hate bully culture,and I do not tolerate bullies or their enablers.I was hurt by their tolerance of the intolerable.I hate social dominator's with my whole heart.And sometimes people who sympathize with bullies can't take my intensity on this and they get defensive and try to smear me.I don't care,As far as I am concerned they should feel threatened by this bully problem I bring up into their face.

[northofdenali]

26. One of the reasons - and I could get flamed for this -

that I support school uniforms. The kids without wouldn't have to compete with the kids "with".

I remember in parochial school when I was young, no one teased anyone else about clothes, because we were all wearing the same thing.

Gave us a lot more time to fight about other stuff!

[proud2BlibKansan]

47. Our public school district has a uniform policy

and it has made a world of difference. I will admit now I opposed it initially. I thought it was just a silly rule that wouldn't have any effect on behavior. But it really has helped.

[LostinVA]

55. 100% in agreement with you --

I grew up poor -- our mom made our clothes, and we were razzed pretty bad by some of the kids. My niece and nephew had to wear uniforms art one of their schools and they -- and my sister -- loved it.

[undergroundpanther]

20. I agree

But remember bullies play "victim" when confronted to elicit pity so they won't be held accountable.. Their parents will also play "victim" and disbelieve the people who were wounded by their"precious" asshole child.
Any anti bullying program should be aware of the tactics of manipulation and the social blind spots and cognitive dissonance bullying creates to keep a system of social domination going that benefits bullies.

[proud2BlibKansan]

49. LOL sounds like a few freepers I have met online

[undergroundpanther]

11. Anti bullying is a great concept

All it takes is one bully to make school a miserable place to be.

I wish bullies would be put in a school seperate from the non bully kids. Where they would be re-socialized and weaned off the use of thier distorted power issues.Teasing ,humiliation,rumor spreading,and cruelty and other bully tactics harms a person as much as a fist to the face can.The scars are are just as real,just not seen at first glance like a healed fleshwound.
Bullying causes trauma which causes wounds to the heart and mind.

Here is a great site on bullies and anti bullying.
http://www.bullyonline.org/

[ThomCat]

15. Their parents would be up in arms

because of course their little angels couldn't possibly be bullies. It all a conspiracy to make their little darlings look bad.

[undergroundpanther]

17. Isn't it pathetic

Sometimes I just look forward to the day humanity is wiped off existance.
People play games get defensive and defend the wrong things so easily. And it's the people that are sensitive,caring creative they get hurt because our culture so prizes social dominance.Social domination is the god aqll are told to aspire to in our shallow,conformist, half psychopathic ,hierarchy ridden,unjust, unequal bully lovin'culture.

[Ksec]

12. Its a good thing IMO

as long as it isnt abused.

Bullies can mess up peoples lives.

[dsc]

22. As one who was bullied a great deal in school

I don't like the idea of weakening policies. I can see people not wanting groups singled out but lets face it, the bullies already single those groups out. Anyone who saw last night's 60 Minutes know that the kid who is so effeminate is going to get bullied at school constantly while his brother will not be bullied nearly as much.

[The Straight Story]

25. Seems like the workplace is more safe than the schools

I work for a large bank and manage about 25 engineers - We have strict policies on everything from sexual harassment to hostile work environment, etc. I have all my engineers go through the online training for each thing. People know they can get fired for policy violations.

Schools should require similar training. One day each semester would be a good start IMHO.

I know teasing is a part of life and it happens everywhere your whole life, but that does not mean we should not strive to educate people and change it as best we can. There is nothing wrong, imho, in teaching people to respect others.

[undergroundpanther]

32. Agreed

As for workplace bullies I think it depends on where you work. I have seen people fall apart because of bullies on the job.I have seen intimidated people tolerate all sorts of abuse from bosses.It's sad.

[dsc]

37. The problem is that kids have a right to be in school

and don't have a right to be at a workplace. Thus the standard for removal is much, much, higher in schools than it is in the typical workplace. To some extent that is a good thing, but it also has downsides.

[undergroundpanther]

28. I think the strong have a responsibility to defend

the weaker or different from the predatory strong.

I did.
I was bullied but despite that,I decided to fight back after a few years of being hurt over and over and seeing the creative gentle kids wounded as well.
So later on when the bullies would go after smaller kids I got sick of it and decided to act,..So I began to stand up for the outcasts.When bullies were hurting them with a crowd of bystanders, I would break the fucking circle, walk up to the bully crack the bully kids sociopathic head and humiliate the shit out of the bully.

By time I was in highschool nobody fucked with me anymore and the smaller,gay and different kids also did not face as much of the horrors they did before in previous years, before.TI think it was because I decided to fight back against the bullies and not tolerate them.The habitual bullies knew if I caught them beating up a smaller or outcast kid, I would destroy them. To the bullies I was crazy and to the teachers I didn't care about thier"authority"(and the teachers didn't care about bullied kids so to me thier authority was empty).. All because I was no bystander.

[dsc]

31. You are a great person

I admit to having been a coward as a middle schooler and as a high schooler. I just wasn't physically capable of dealing with it. You surely helped a number of kids very much. You should be very proud. I got helped by tutoring the star football player. Once I started doing that, no one gave me shit.

[mzteris]

38. same here

I made a point of standing up to bullies in grade school - whether towards me or others.

Usually just challenging them was enough! Or verbally putting them in their place. But occasionally - well - I was a TINY girl so was often underestimated. The fact that I was used to fighting with my brother (5 yrs older!) helped a lot. :)

They probably did think I was "crazy" to be standing up to them. (I think the term "berserker" might have been more appropriate.) But I didn't really have to worry about the teachers - no one ever told on me. They were too embarrased that they got their butts whupped by a girl half their size! ROFL

[Deja Q]

65. Only NOW?!

Finally.

About time too.

Bullying is the province of the bully. Not its victims.

Whoops! There I go again, replacing human terms such as "he" with nondescript terms like "it"! Don't expect me to stop anytime in the future; such filth must be put to rights. Many of us, like me, survive and are happy to contribute - though we are scarred in some ways. Others don't and in turn respond with active forms of hate that in turn hurt far more people.

The root of the problem is the bully. The victims end up the symptoms. You cannot put away symptoms and expect the problem to stop. The problem only makes more symptoms.

End the problem. Find out what is wrong with the bullies and fix them.