[wintertime]

Bullies in school serve the same informally authorized function as rapists in prison — breaking spirits, humiliating the inmates, enforcing the desired sense of passivity and impotence. Bullies are an integral part of the system — and the sooner public education goes away, the happier the world will be.

Exactly!

Toward the end of the article one student mentioned that the school has 3,000 students! What is this "school"? A Perdue chicken farm?

If we house children in prison-like structures, march them around to the sound of bells like prisoners, Strip them of their fundamental rights to free speech, free press, free assembly, free expression of their religion, and even ( like prisoners) regulate when they can eat, use the restroom, and exercise, WHY ARE CITIZENS SURPRISED THAT THEY ACT LIKE PRISONERS!!! ( Is a "duh" necessary?)

This school seems to be in a "good" area and would likely be considered a "good" school. Nearly all of the school outrage stories seem to be from "good" schools...yet...There are Freepers who insist that this isn't happening at their child's school. I suppose the free babysitting is powerfully addicting.

Our Founding Fathers supported public education, but what they had in mind was likely the education they enjoyed. Our Founding Fathers never attended prison-like schools that are, today, the size of a colonial **CITY**.

[bonfire]

You may have a point there.
Last I heard MHS is the largest HS in Ohio. We live in a district close by. When we moved to this area we purposely stayed away from Mentor for that reason. We had come from an even larger HS in TX and daughter wanted a small school.

With a small school there are different problems. Kids that have known eachother since they were born and much tighter cliques. Anyone outside that group or a newcomer is more likely (IMO) to be subject to bullying.

Have lived through both types. All my kids thought that in larger schools it’s easier to find a group to fit into and kids more friendly. BUT you are one amongst many and the opportunities are limited.

I can see both sides of the issue when it comes to larger vs. smaller yet I do agree in a large school these issues are more difficult to handle simply because of the sheer multitudes.

[hopespringseternal]

Psychologically, kids do not need to be organized into large packs of other kids their same age. The family is the structure that best meets the needs of child development.

In a healthy family, the parents are in control and there is no bullying for position like in a pack of feral dogs.

When I was in school the two groups who were the worst bullies were the popular kids a the top of the social order trying to maintain position and the loser kids at the bottom trying to move up. The ones from well-grounded, functional families rarely participated in the kind of world-shattering psychological bullying that is prompting suicides.

Their sense self worth was actuallized by their family, not position within the pack.