Posted on 10/05/2010 10:31:07 AM PDT by Niuhuru
It started with rumors, a love triangle, and a dirty look in a high-school bathroom. Soon jokes about an "Irish slut" cropped up on Facebook, and a girl’s face was scribbled out of a class photo hanging up at school. One day, in the cafeteria, another girl marched in, pointed at her, and shouted "stay away from other people’s men." A week later, as the girl walked home, a car full of students crept close. One kid hurled a crumpled soda can out the window, followed closely by shrieks of "whore!"
If your children had behaved like this, how would you want them punished? Certainly a proper grounding would be in order; computer privileges revoked. Detention, yes—maybe even suspension. Or what about 10 years in jail? Now what if we told you that the girl had gone home after the soda-can incident and killed herself—discovered by her little sister, hanging in a stairwell. Now which punishment fits the crime?
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
What if Prince had decided to start mutilating herself, due to bullying?
Would the other teens be charged with assault?
What if Prince had become a kleptomaniac, due to bullying?
Would the other teens be charged with theft?
What a great way to get a final payback at your enemies. Let’s see...emotionally unstable person decides to end life...hmmm...whom do I hate most? Oh yeah, I’ll just leave a note blaming that person.
Brilliant.
And I’m aware that in this case it wasn’t as simple as leaving a note blaming the other teens. It doesn’t change the fact that people would soon begin to abuse the system.
Illegitimi non carborundum.
The bullying students should be punished to whatever extent the statutory punishment for harassment, stalking, bullying, etc. allows. This is true whether the girl they victimized cried herself to sleep for weeks, or became a depressed prescription drug addict, or committed suicide. Their crime(s) are exactly what THEY did — not what she did as a result of the way the crimes made her feel.
I think the real question here should be why the media is suddenly full of “Facebook ruins humanity” stories in the same week the Prez has decided he wants to be able to wiretap social networking sites.
Both shoes upside the head.
Grounded for months, if not life.
detailed analysis of homework.
Ask the teacher for extra work.
TV? Gone Olla
Internet? If it ain’t got nothing to with school, Buh-Bye.
Video Games? Hell I didn’t have one until Pong came out and even then it was severely restricted. Toodle Loo.
Room better stay organized and clean every day.
House work? Tons of it.
Gardening? I’d fire the gardener and put the kid to work.
We would have talks at least once a week discussing the rights of others, their dignity and pride. You have no right to take something from someone.
Big open ended question “What have we learned this week?”
Apology to the girl? Better be good, better be contrite and better come with a promise to not only never do it again but to protect others against that.
And maybe one day when I am convinced, in two or three years, he can earn every last thing I took back based on his honor.
If my kids acted out as described they would be punished severly As to the girl hanging herslef that is tragic but how do you punish others for her weakness? While a contributing factor the girl already had some underlying problem that allowed her to beleivce death was the answer tpo a problem..
You have no idea what you are talking about and I’d bet these kids parents think the same way.I was a victim back in school of this type of bullying.Luckily I had a decent home life and didn’t end up like she did.If my parents had been a little too busy for me or worse split up I’m not sure I would’ve made it through those days intact.Today it would’ve been much worse with the internet.I am not unbalanced in the least.You do not understand the h*ll those girls put her through all because they were jealous that she was much more attractive than they were so they had to destroy her.They should go to jail and lose their youth just as they did to her.Don’t let any of them out until they are over 35.
When I was in 7th and 8th grade I was what was then called “husky”. But I was a country boy who walked many miles everyday and worked every day. So while my body shape invoked some abuse my strength and stamina allowed for ample retribution. I found that all bullies are cowards who once they have their ass kicked real good tend to disappear..
As always, the best way to handle a bully is to fight back.
Wow.
That’s everyday life at our house except for the shoe part.
And therein lies the problem. Then, you were allowed to solve the problem yourself. A teenager today is not permitted that ... a teenager today who tries to solve his problems the way you solved yours would be headed for prison; the bullies would receive the coveted status of "victim".
Actually, she was a cutter prior to moving to the U.S. At the risk of letting my vagina show, I read an extensive series on this in Slate (I know, I know).
There are a hell of a lot of complicating factors in this story. I guess Newsweak wanted to wait until all the real reporting was done before chiming in.
What if the bullied teen goes to school with a 9mm concealed in a backpack and takes out their revenge....
I would beat my kid so badly that they would end up in the ICU. Then boot campt each and every summer and then they would walk to school.
Simple. Take away more peoples guns.
I got bored making the list but trust me, It would absolutely be bigger than that.
My Mom would have left a disfiguring mark on my forehead and maybe left me with a stump for a right arm and I can just hear the paddle coming down on my backside and I don’t think she would really aim for any kind of accuracy.
I’m not sure if bullying that leads to a suicide should necessarily be charged as manslaughter because the suicide is ultimately the victim’s choice. If the bullies urged the victim to kill herself or they knowingly bullied someone they knew had emotional problems or was already suicidal, that might be a different story.
Stalking, harassment, assault, and other cruel behaviors should never be tolerated by schools though. Already students’ hands are tied when they are victims of bullies. Having been bullied myself, I know that adults tend to shrug it off as just kid stuff, not knowing how severe it can get or how it can really mess with your head for life. If a kid fights back, he could be suspended, expelled, tried as a criminal in juvenile court, and sued by the bully’s parents. Punching out your tormentor isn’t going to solve your problem and will only create new ones.
Here’s what I say...if your kid is being bullied at school, talk to the principal and the kid’s teachers. If they blow you off, then have your kid transferred to another school or try private school, have him homeschooled if you can swing it, or sign up for an independent study program. Bullying can happen anywhere but public schools in particular cultivate this sort of thing.
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