I applaud the charging of crimes for bullying that poor child

[Stinky The Clown]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/29/earlyshow/main6343077.shtml

I have a son who was bullied. I know what the consequences are. His mother and I didn't know its full extents until years later.

Yes, its "just kids".

That doesn't make it any less harmful.

Even if the dead girl somehow caused it to start (and I am NOT suggesting she did), keeping it going in inexcusable.

I don't care if the perps go to jail or not.

What I **want** is some institutionally sponsored pressure to change the collective behavior of kids. It may never change, but we have to try. Bullying is neither fun nor funny.

[bluestateguy]

1. I do too

But I also think it is time for schools to 1) crack down on bullies and 2) to explicitly allow children who are physically attacked by bullies to fight back without fear of punishment.

[Tippy]

5. They will probably get the hell beat out of themselves if they do try...

Remember they fear the bully...

[paulsby]

16. not ime

i fought back against a bully (elbowed him in the nose) and never had a problem again.

(grammar school)

had the same experience in high school, except in that case it was a very hard shove

just my personal experience, of course.

[hlthe2b]

9. they may have to start with the bullying parents, first.

who will hear nothing "bad" against little johnny or Suzie.

[ampad]

19. Thank you

It has to start with the parents who have no idea what their little darlings are up to. And those parents who have an idea but could care less. I think those parents should of been brought up on charges along with those evil little brats. It takes quite a bit of evil to tease a kid to the point of suicide. Come on, those parents either had an idea or had no idea at all.

[Forkboy]

2. For the most part it has to start with the parents.

I can only speak off what I've seen personally, but more often than not the bully child is the offspring of the bully parent. How to break that cycle is beyond me. We can blame tv or movies or music, but until we find a way to reach parents early it's all just finger pointing.

[Stinky The Clown]

6. While I do not disagree with you in any way, it has to start someplace .....

.... and we can't effectively change parental behavior. What we have to do is make bullying the height of UNcool. If nothing else, it would reduce or eliminate this sort of "gang bullying" that the poor dead girl was made to suffer. Dealing with a single bully is easier to deal with than gang bullying.

[Posteritatis]

7. Dealing with the responsible adults would help too

There's another case of a kid getting bullied until she committed suicide floating around GD today too; in that case people at the school knew about it and witnessed it at points, but still did nothing. They should be held responsible for what happened after they decided to look the other way too.

[Stinky The Clown]

21. I'd applaud that if it were possible

I'm not sure how one could prove culpability on the part of non-witnessing parents ..... or any adult for that matter.

[Posteritatis]

25. In the case I'm referring to staff mentioned knowing the abuse was going on. (nt)

[Forkboy]

10. I think that's one prong in what needs to be a multi pronged approach.

Let's be honest here, as one HUMAN to another....bullying isn't going to be educated out of existence. It's IN us....all of us. Just like wolves create a pecking order based on instinct and submission, so do we. Your approach is the best option available, that I see. It's an uphill battle. We're not just fighting societal norms....we're fighting human instinct. The younger generations are so far ahead of us that's it's almost embarrassing. For every horror story of the youth of today, there's just as many of kids who DO get it. They're the ones that inspire me.

Like pretty much every battle the Left fights it won't be won in our lifetime. But we can nudge it in the right direction. ;)

[REP]

12. Schools need to change policies

As I said in another post, some (if not many) schools have policies of never saying a child's behavior is wrong; only asking the child if better choices could be made as well as treating all children exactly the same, bullies and victims alike. If a teacher doesn't see the bullying, they have only the victim's (and others) reports and often can do nothing with those other than suggest the bully try other ways to communicate ... which is ineffective. They really should be separated from the class and put in a behavior disorder SpEd, but there's no funds for GATE, let alone regular classes.

[REP]

11. Not always

My friend, a teacher, has a bully in her class; the parents are spineless and give in to the child's tantrums and manipulations. They act concerned, but never follow through with any program. Coupled with the school's policy of never telling a child they did anything wrong - only asking if they could have made better choices - and the worst bullying happening out of her sight, she feels helpless in stopping it.

[Forkboy]

18. That still comes down to the parents first and foremost.

Trust me, I'm not saying any one parent has the power to control their kid. Some kids are just little shits...George Carlin knew this lol. Asking the teacher to control this is totally unfair (not saying you suggested that)...they have 40 kids to mind. They can't be parents and mentors to all these kids (though many of them try...had a few myself that I wish I could thank now). It has to be the parents that are reached first, imo (and we're talking long term solution...each parent has a handful, I fully realize...I was one of those handfuls).

There is no perfect solution. Some kids will always be bullies, even with cool parents. The best we can hope for is to minimize the damage. I know that what I say is FAR easier said than done.

[REP]

20. Agreed, but if the parents won't step in, the school needs to

See my post above for more elaboration. I do agree schools tie teachers hands in dealing with this, and there's not nearly enough staff or funding, either.

[LanternWaste]

3. I agree.

I completely agree.

Having been both a bully at one point in my adolescence, and bullied at another point in that same adolescence, I realized what I was doing, and I realized it was wrong.




I did see the implication by another poster that this specific case is little more than a witch-hunt, and I could only giggle-in-bad-taste at the stunning buffoonery of that allegation.

[Webster Green]

4. She looked like a really nice kid.

WTF is wrong with people?

Very sad!

[Initech]

8. I was bullied myself.

Of course this was the mid-90's and they didn't do anything extreme in this case. But circumstances aside, I know for a fact that they don't listen to reason and no amount of sensitivity training will make the problem go away. I hope the outcome of this case sets an example for the rest of the country to follow.

[REP]

15. Sensitivity training just trains more effective bullies

The kids who benefits aren't likely to bully in the first place.

[Initech]

17. Thats what I've been trying to tell people.

[MadMaddie]

13. This child was also raped by a couple of the boys in this gang

and they are being charged with that crime.

This wasn't just bullying but assault on top of it.

I wonder what the bully's parents are saying?

May she RIP!

[pipoman]

14. I think there has been significant

headway since I was a kid....more can be done, but it is getting better IMO

[ampad]

23. I guess it depends on the school district

and the circumstances. When I was growing up I was bullied. Being one of only two black kids in an all white school did not help. I finally had to take things into my own hands and beat up a couple of kids. Looking back on it I would not say I am proud of what I did. However, at the time I felt like I had no choice.

My aunt had to actually file charges and take a kid and his parents to court for beating up my autistic cousin. They finally kicked the kid out of school. I just wonder why did it even have to get to that point? This happened a few years ago.

[distantearlywarning]

22. +1

Me too.

[pipi_k]

24. Another case where the bullies will be charged...

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/29/massachusetts.bullying.suicide/?hpt=T1


I think the parents of those kids ought to be charged with something as well. And I DO hope the perps in this case go to jail.


Very very sad. That poor girl...she's the type I would have been friends with when I was in High School