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I Am Unknowing
When I was in school, bullying was different.


Personal Experience stated as fact

I Am Unknowing
That was bullying.


Incorrect Definition

I Am Unknowing
Nowadays, people are concerned when one kid calls another one fat.


Understatements based off a lack of education on the subject

I Am Unknowing
These people who kill themselves over being called a few names aren't victims of bullying, they're victims of mental disorders and personality disorders.


Display of gross misinformation about mental illness and suicide. Correlation = Causation Fallacy. Spoilers: It Doesn't

I Am Unknowing
And there's "cyber bullying" which is completely avoidable with the use of an ignore button or just turning off the computer.


The fact that you would even suggest somebody turn off their computers due to the harassment from others proves there is a problem. You shouldn't have to turn off your computer or be chased off the internet for any reason other than your own choice. By giving an opinion on how to avoid it, you have recognized it as an exisiting thing, completely contradicting yourself in this statement:

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Bullying is no longer an issue


You proved yourself wrong

I Am Unknowing
I challenge you to prove me wrong.


No no, you have the order of proper discussion and debates backwards. You make a claim, you support your claim, and then you invite people to debate your claim through debunking your support and providing support of their own, but currently since you provided no support for your claim, you just have a bunch of people showing support for their claim or just picking apart your argument (or lack there of) with logic...

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l_Shamrock_l
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I Am Unknowing
When I was in school, bullying was different. I got cut up with a knife, that was bullying. My fiancee got beaten so bad that she started spitting up blood. A kid I went to school with got his teeth chipped, and another one got his arms broken. That was bullying.

Nowadays, people are concerned when one kid calls another one fat. And there's "cyber bullying" which is completely avoidable with the use of an ignore button or just turning off the computer. Bullying is no longer an issue and I challenge you to prove me wrong.

Suicide statistics need not apply. A real bully would finish the job themselves. These people who kill themselves over being called a few names aren't victims of bullying, they're victims of mental disorders and personality disorders. Thanks.
Tell that to Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Oh wait, you can't.

I was bullied incessantly in middle school. Mostly verbally, but it did get violent some times. I remember being beat up in the locker room one day, and one day getting hit by hornets (bits of metal from paper clips shot with a rubber band, stings like hell) dozens of times. I would cry at home nearly every night for three years because of it, but I never once considered suicide even for a moment. People who commit suicide over name calling, even for long periods of time, have mental issues of their own that cause them to take drastic measures. It's a damn shame, everyone hates to see kids feel like they have to take their own lives. But to blame it entirely on bullying is flat out wrong. There's bullying in nearly every school in the country, probably the world. It's just human nature, it can't be stopped
Just because someone chooses a drastic option does not mean they are mentally unstable. It means they are dramatic, which can root from a need to overcompensate or to really attract attention. Dismissing the issue as "mental health" is part of the problem.

Normal people do not commit suicide over something as relatively trivial as being insulted by their peers. There's something wrong with people who do
People commit suicide for thousands of reasons which do not have anything to do with them being mentally unstable. The fact that your stance on this is that people who commit suicide are without exception mentally unstable only means that you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Are there people who do, in fact, have an illness who commit or attempt to commit suicide? Yes. Is this a requirement? Absolutely not. It does not require an illness to be pushed to a point where you are convinced that the only option you have out of a perpetually shitty life is to just end it. Some people are just miserable and don't know what to do about it. People can even reason themselves into it. Besides, we all die in the end, right?

I never once said that people who commit suicide are without exception mentally unstable

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Irish Fae Stormee
My Dog Mr. Kitty
l_Shamrock_l
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l_Shamrock_l
I Am Unknowing
When I was in school, bullying was different. I got cut up with a knife, that was bullying. My fiancee got beaten so bad that she started spitting up blood. A kid I went to school with got his teeth chipped, and another one got his arms broken. That was bullying.

Nowadays, people are concerned when one kid calls another one fat. And there's "cyber bullying" which is completely avoidable with the use of an ignore button or just turning off the computer. Bullying is no longer an issue and I challenge you to prove me wrong.

Suicide statistics need not apply. A real bully would finish the job themselves. These people who kill themselves over being called a few names aren't victims of bullying, they're victims of mental disorders and personality disorders. Thanks.
Tell that to Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Oh wait, you can't.

I was bullied incessantly in middle school. Mostly verbally, but it did get violent some times. I remember being beat up in the locker room one day, and one day getting hit by hornets (bits of metal from paper clips shot with a rubber band, stings like hell) dozens of times. I would cry at home nearly every night for three years because of it, but I never once considered suicide even for a moment. People who commit suicide over name calling, even for long periods of time, have mental issues of their own that cause them to take drastic measures. It's a damn shame, everyone hates to see kids feel like they have to take their own lives. But to blame it entirely on bullying is flat out wrong. There's bullying in nearly every school in the country, probably the world. It's just human nature, it can't be stopped
Just because someone chooses a drastic option does not mean they are mentally unstable. It means they are dramatic, which can root from a need to overcompensate or to really attract attention. Dismissing the issue as "mental health" is part of the problem.

Normal people do not commit suicide over something as relatively trivial as being insulted by their peers. There's something wrong with people who do

I think it's funny to see someone make such outrageous claims when they probably don't even have a psychology background, especially at the boldness of your statement. If you knew anything about psychology and sociology you'd understanding how a young, still mentally developing person being insulted by their peers is anything but trivial. It has a much deeper and incredulous impact on development, self image, and mental state (the image of self is very important) and as outsiders we can argue all day about whether it should or shouldn't matter, but the reality is it does, and people are dying, and that's not okay.
I understand the impacts that bullying can have, I myself have self conscious issues, social anxiety, and some other sources of anxiety because of it. I was saying relatively trivial because compared to other sources of suicide reasons, it is trivial
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Lady Zoe
While I dont agree with how you said it, I somewhat agree with your sentiments.

I feel that Bullying is part of growing up, and how we cope with the hardships of "fitting in" helps us to cope with the realities of life and how it can sometimes kick you in the a**. Coddling youngsters completely, putting them in the plastic bubble, it doesnt prepare them. I feel the same way about those who wont allow their kids to play with fake guns and play "war", or shove their hands into vats of hand sanitizer at every chance. Its like parents today are trying to hide the violence and the cruelty of life from their child as if it doesnt exist. But it does regardless of whether you shield them as a child or not. They need to grow a skin at some point.

The suicides are what has drawn bullying into the limelight. I feel THIS kind of behavior is sad. What needs to be done is more counseling, and making sure those that feel like they want to kill themselves are pointed out and spoken to. What our country needs is a modern and realistic approach to therapy and psychology.

Part of that modern and realistic approach also needs to include extending the same protections and presumptions we extend to adults to children.

While its important to help kids working through mental issues, what troubled me about your comment is that there is no mention of working with the bullies themselves. All you did was mention how these victims of bullying need to be "pointed out and spoken to"; apparently, these bullies don't need to be "pointed out and spoken to". Just the victims.

What's so sick about this is that were these practices mirrored for adults, society would balk. If I bully an adult, I get called into the bosses' office and reprimanded. I as the bully am "pointed out and spoken to" as much as the victim. So in a perverse way, we give less protections to kids, who are supposed to be vulnerable, than we do to adults, who are expected to be well-adjusted and able to handle more.

I fully support teaching kids how to handle bullying, but at some point society needs to do what it should have done - treat bullying uniformly and as we handle adults. We have the procedures, so its just a matter of using them.


You have a good point, sir.

Also, perhaps the bully needs to be spoken to because there may be a reason THAT child is behaving the way they are. They may have a bad home life or feel inadequate themselves and lash out by attacking other students to improve their self esteem.

Overall I think how bullying and aggressor/bullied is dealt today with is antiquated, and we need to look at it from another light of psychology. We also need to take parenting as a whole more seriously. This means having two parents active in the child's life, and raising them to be healthy and accepting of all walks of life, and for parents to not be afraid to admit if your child has a problem that may need to be further ironed out. Either by therapy or some other means.

Overall it seems my parents generation and the one before it saw going to a psychologist or therapist as a bad thing. Like you are instantly a nutcase if you need to talk to a professional about your problems. But everyone has problems. Its only human, and we need to be able to address them.

Yeah, psychology is a needed piece. I think you will see that get recognized when people also begin to accept that bullying has evolved as society has evolved.

Like it or not, one's life online is just as valuable to a person's sense of self and identity. Bullying is indeed as physical as it always was, but its now become more pervasive. Sixty years ago, bullying tended to stop when you left the school. Now, a bully can call, text, i.m., facebook, etc. their victim where ever they go, to the point that their victim has to totally unplug themselves to get away from it.

Bullying has changed, and policies won't change until people realize this.

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I Am Unknowing
And there's "cyber bullying" which is completely avoidable with the use of an ignore button or just turning off the computer.


Not if the bully is willing to go as far as to spread rumors, pictures, or create multiple accounts to harass someone. Other times, if a picture gets around, the cyber bulling can go outside of the internet. What can they do, now? There's more to it than ignoring it unless some people think that you have to be a certain type of "tough guy" to actually be able to ignore it, but we all didn't go to the military or raised the same way as some people.
Quote:
And there's "cyber bullying" which is completely avoidable with the use of an ignore button or just turning off the computer.


Not completely. Some people just keep making new accounts after they get banned. Hell, we have people that do that here, like that dude that keeps coming back to complain about Stockholm and illegal immigrants. It wouldn't be a stretch for a bully (or just a d**k with one ******** of a grudge) to just do that to target a person, rendering the ignore button (and even the banhammer) effectively useless. It's one thing if it's a fansite or somewhere you don't have to be, but if it's a service you basically have to use for your career (I have no doubt people exist who would do that on Linkedin), that's not so avoidable either.

Physical bullying may not be as mainstream as it once was, but that doesn't mean verbal attacks and emotional damage aren't bullying. They're just not grounds to be arrested for assault. Also just because bullies don't touch you, doesn't mean they're above vandalism, theft, spreading rumours or trying to get you framed (true story).

Quote:
A real bully would finish the job themselves.


Since when do bullies have a code of honor? If we were to compare this to a shootout, the bully would be the one to take the cheap shot.


Quote:
These people who kill themselves over being called a few names aren't victims of bullying, they're victims of mental disorders and personality disorders. Thanks.


Define "a few".

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foxxykitty27
Just because you don't here about violence doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Also, bullying does not imply physical trauma. Emotional damage is real and sometimes just turning off the computer isn't enough. If a kid is being cyberbullied they are probably being bullied in real life too. I don't see why you think suicide rates are irrelevant but ok. What about depression rates? Those are higher in kids now than they have ever been. Physical injuries can heal but emotional ones can last for life. Sure, I agree to an extent that people might be getting too worked up some name calling or whatever. But you have to understand that there are many instances that go beyond that and they are real. Has it ever occurred to you that the bullying resulted in the mental disorder? Our minds are susceptible to damage just like any other part of our body.


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