There was recently an opinion piece in the Pekin Times about bullying. Also the national news currently running the video of the girl beaten by ex-friends. I know that physical altercations were taken seriously by the schools I attended and usually resulted in suspensions and expulsions. But it was never something in the public eye. I wonder if there is reluctance to deal with it today because they don’t want to involve the police and public record? Perhaps the best way to handle it would be to go straight to the police with it? Then again who wants a student to get tasered? Obviously I could question this from one side to another but I don’t have any real answer except prompt and strict discipline for the bully. The devilish detail is making sure you have properly determined if there is a bully and to what extent the transgressions. I know from my past there are also the verbal bullies and they can leave long lasting scars as well and are harder to pin down and punish. These bullies exist among us at all ages and are impervious to words because that is what they thrive on. In fact shunning and ignoring them seems the best remedy. I certainly wouldn’t make it through school today. In my day when somebody hit you ... you hit them back harder. That attitude would land me in jail today.
My son was bullied for a short time by his class bully when he was younger. We did tell him that if the other kid hit him first he could hit him back, if he felt it was really necessary. We also explained that if he did, that the school might punish him and he would have to accept that (but that he wouldn’t be in trouble at home-unless he started the fight).
My daughter was also bullied (and it was a much worse situation) earlier this year by a girl in her class. It was awful. Girls can be so mean! And it did culminate with the other girl hitting Reagan at school, and us calling the police. We filed a police report but never heard anything. Despite numerous classmates seeing the girl hit Reagan, and the bully even admitted it to the school principal. (Oh, and the school really handled it very poorly and the girl only received an in school suspension for a day. Less than a month later she hit another child)
The type of bullying girls do is so much harder for adults to catch. So much of it involves malicious gossip, exclusion, etc, and it’s a lot harder to put a stop to than concrete actions like hitting.
Jennifer 09 Apr 2008, 09:19 a.m.
It can be very frustrating can’t it. My wife would agree with you about girls... she has related to me some of the nasty things she had to deal with in high school. She refuses to go to high school reunions because she hated high school so much. We have 3 sons, no daughters, so no experience with girl bullying but some with the boys.
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Border Disorder
