Due to the recent wave of kids -- especially gay teenagers -- who've been bullied to the point of taking their own lives, the U.S. media's begun talking about bullying & teen suicide. It's so horrible that Americans have finally begun to do what we do best - fight with each other over what to do and never accomplish anything.
Some fundamentalist Christians say anti-bullying laws that protect gay kids legitimize homosexuality and that's an attack on their religion - y'know, "what kind of an anti-Christian bigot would keep me from being an anti-gay bigot." Then you've got some who say nonstop cruelty and humiliation are just part of growing up. Besides, if kids don't learn that it's OK to displace anger onto the wrong person now, how will they ever be ready for the Tea Party?
Then you've got liberals who want to make verbal bullying a federal crime, which is kind of tricky when the reverend Fred Phelps and his Church of the inbred Anti-Christ Rapture Freaks can legally picket a military funeral screaming "God Hates Fags" - and it's protected speech.
So while adults debate about bullying, the bullies keep torturing kids emotionally, in school and online. You know why? 'Cause not enough people take bullying seriously.
You wanna know how to get people to take it seriously? Here's step 1. Stop calling it bullying.
I was a pale skinny child of two ex-clergy with an ethnic last name that began with 'FU.' I was picked on so much the bullies all got frequent-abuser cards. If they decked my books ten times they could break into my locker for free.
Bullying is an flaccid, outdated, archies comic-era term. It's so quaint and toothless -- like saying DeNiro bullied Nick Nolte's family in Cape Fear. It doesn't do justice to the kind of brutalizing that would drive a kid to kill him or herself. It's like calling homeless people 'tramps' or 'hoboes' -- or saying the Khmer Rouge was 'Peevish.'
The word dates back to 1693. It's had a good run. Call it peer abuse, unamerican persecution, criminal harassment. Call it anything that makes people take it seriously, but stop calling it bullying. It sounds like what the Little Rascals got from Butch & Woim.
I'm John Fugelsang for GRITtv, and if you don't stop saying bullying, I'm going to meet you after school and break your face.
“Criminal Harassment” sounds like a more accurate description. My experience with these types of people, well kids at the time, I observed that they learned much of this behavior from their own homes. The culture within their families, friends, organizations, media, etc. have imbedded this kind of thinking and behavior as the norm. The measure of what or who is superior and who is different enough to be singled out to condemn is exemplified over and over in many forms of relationships between family members, friends, fellow students, fellow professionals and sadly sold to us as entertainment.
Breaking this cycle should be as easy as telling our own kids of their worth and value as members of our family and of our community, and not dwelling on their shortcomings. When I hear jokes or comments today that come at the expense of another, I speak up and point out how that sort of thinking shouldn’t be acceptable, that we may not be so different after all. Everyone comes from their own place and have their own unique back stories that lead them to where they are today. Everyone deserves fair treatment and respect for who they are. We should listen more, and be very mindful of how we interact with others.
By Lauralyn Fields on October 10th, 2010 at 10:34 pm