Bullying and Incivility getting out of hand in US schools

[Winston]

Steve N sent me this today:

-------------------------------------------

Winston, you should add to your website about how sick the USA society is in that we have a bullying problem with our kids/youth. We are so messed up as a society that now that even CNN is constantly talking about it. Kids killing themselves because of all the bullying going on. Its another example of our sick society in the USA. I don't think its a serious problem in other countries. Filipinas have told me it not an issue there in the phils.

CNN had a 2 hour special tonight about it. What a sign of a sick messed up society huh? What kind of parenting job are americans doing to raise such sick kids who get pleasure out of bullying people, even handicapped people are getting bullied. see http://www.bvblackspin.com/2010/09/17/f ... s-bullies/

[adam917]

Here is one in my area: http://www.epgn.com/view/full_story/981 ... =home_news

At Out Fest about half a day ago, there was a vigil held for the recent several gay people suicides. The one in Rutgers was all over my local news as I live in the area. This bullying is getting WAY out of hand & I don't know if it can be stopped. In some countries bullying barely exists due to having the right rules & methods of teaching kids from when they are very young. Here, it would take at least a generation to change it & like even longer to come close to eliminating it.

[raindreamer333]

It is sick.

Actually tonight I have been watching some youtube videos about Eric Harris and Dylan Klebolt. By no means do I condone or support what they did, but I think that we all understand, to some degree, the pain they felt.

I also have spent time looking at pictures of my cute and sweet Filipina fiance tonight. I just can't belive how much my life has changed since high school. I was roughly the same age as those two, and was bullied also. Now I get to kiss the most beautiful girl in the world. She is so sweet and cheeerful and giving, the very opposite of everything I experienced as a teenager. I can't believe that in only 5 weeks we will be married, and I will make love for the first time to the most beautiful and sweet lady I have ever met. Those are just my thoughts for tonight. Good night.

[Contrarian Expatriate]

It is not only a problem in schools, it is also increasingly common in workplaces. Workplace bullying is often called mobbing, or gang bullying and women are most often the victims AND the perpetrators.

This is evidence of social implosion related to status maintenance and floundering economic prospects. What a shame.

[globetrotter]

It's easy to understand.

The USA is now a Prison Society. You have to either intimidate the baddest mother f***er in the room, at the office or school; or you have to actually beat the shit out of them. If you don't you become a bitch. This is how women behave - they challenge your alpha status and you need to assert dominance immediately or a life of pain ensues.

We have become dogs or wolves in the USA. Obviously.

Bullying is just Darwinism culling the weak. Runts of the litter are beaten, eaten, ignored or starved to death.

Life is brutal. Competition is fierce. It used to be that Civilization was constructed to keep these concepts a safe distance from life so that living could be tamer and more enjoyable.

In the USA, not anymore...

..and that is why the weak are beaten by the strong in High School.

[globetrotter]

It is not only a problem in schools, it is also increasingly common in workplaces. Workplace bullying is often called mobbing, or gang bullying and women are most often the victims AND the perpetrators.

This is evidence of social implosion related to status maintenance and floundering economic prospects. What a shame.

Yeah...I read the Urban Dictionary definition of this.

It's also called Clinical Paranoia.

[momopi]

In Asian cultures where sempai (upperclassmen) and cohai (underclassmen) relationships are better defined, the relationship is a complex mixture of bullying and mentorship. In Jr. high the upperclassmen (grades 8 & 9) will bully the freshmen (grade 7). However, at the same time, the upperclassmen are also required to teach the underclassmen club related activities and academic tutoring. For example, if a freshman joins band, the upperclassmen will be responsible for teaching the basics, starting with floor scrubbing. ;p

After graduation, the cohai will look to their sempai for assistance in getting a job. Think of it as an informal alumni network. This culture is transplanted by Asians to the US in areas with large Asian student populations. I graduated HS in 1989 and still meet up with informal association of Chinese/Taiwanese students from my school district (Cerritos/Artesia/Lakewood/etc). On the up side, it's good to be able to say "hey I got laid off" and have a dozen people offer to help you find a job from Taiwan to North America. On the down side, it means having to attend half a dozen weddings every year and, you had better not be cheap with your hoanbao cash gift. Then when they start popping kids you have to give $$ too. Oh and, if you go work for someone's family business, you had better not screw up...! Word get around pretty fast.

What sucks about the typical American school bullying? There's nothing to gain from it. You have to wait until college, and that's assuming you went to a decent college, before you build useful alumni relationships.

[NorthAmericanguy]

I had a bully in grade school. He became a bully because he was picking on my classmates one day and I jumped in and defended them.

Ever since that day, all he did was pick on me. Sad to say, none of my class mates would help me in return when he would try in pick on me over the next 2 years exclusively.

Don't know what happened, but by the time I got into high school, I adapted the mentality that I would treat everybody with respect, and would even come off a bit weak, BUT deep, deep, deep down there is a crazed nut who will be unleashed if you try and harm me. In fact, I'm afraid of that crazed nut myself because I know that he will go all the way and try and kill somebody out of self defense.

I only needed to use him 2 times. One time was as a freshman this guy tried to corner me and steal my lunch money and I just (without thinking) picked him up off the ground and slammed him against a vending machine. All the males who were around were in awe and I never had any problems out of anybody ever sense that day

[NorthAmericanguy]

It's easy to understand.

The USA is now a Prison Society. You have to either intimidate the baddest mother f***er in the room, at the office or school; or you have to actually beat the shit out of them. If you don't you become a bitch. This is how women behave - they challenge your alpha status and you need to assert dominance immediately or a life of pain ensues.

We have become dogs or wolves in the USA. Obviously.

Bullying is just Darwinism culling the weak. Runts of the litter are beaten, eaten, ignored or starved to death.

Life is brutal. Competition is fierce. It used to be that Civilization was constructed to keep these concepts a safe distance from life so that living could be tamer and more enjoyable.

In the USA, not anymore...

..and that is why the weak are beaten by the strong in High School.

I see your point, and agree with most of it, but my take is that humans turn into savage beast because of the environment they live in and not necessarily because they are savages to begin with (i.e.,Darwinism).

If everybody gets what they need, then there is no reason why you would need to behave like a savage unless you make a living from being a savage. Just think about when you're fed, well F**kd, and everything is paid for, do you feel like being a bully to anybody?

As far as bullying, I have read that people often bully to feel better about themselves and they do it because somebody in the past use to bully them. I find this to be true because out of the people who I knew were bullies, they had parents who bullied them. And those parents probably have a boss, or coworkers, who bully them.

[jamesbond]

Studies have shown that if a person stands up to a bully, the bully will back down. This shows that bullies are simply scared people who act tough and macho. For some reason America has more of a bully problem than other countries do.

Also, the cliquish and anti-social atmosphere in the US doesn't exist in most other countries. America does have the highest rate of mental illness of any industrialized country in the world!

[Winston]

Here's another article that Steve found and added to his Research Report:

http://diversityinc.com/investigative-s ... -politics/

The Culture of Bullying: Loss of Civility at School, Work, Politics

In today’s America, incivility is on prominent display: in the schools, where bullying is pervasive; in the workplace, where an increasing number are more stressed out by coworkers than their jobs; on the roads, where road rage maims and kills; in politics, where strident intolerance takes the place of earnest dialogue; and on the web, where many check their inhibitions at the digital door,� says Pier M. Forni, author of “The Civility Solution: What to Do When People are Rude� and director of The Civility Initiative at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

“How in the world can we stop bullying in schools, in the workplace, in politics, when it is so close to our national character right now?� asks Dr. Gary Namie, a psychologist and cofounder of the Workplace Bullying Institute, a Washington state–based nonprofit.

Facing the Consequences

Forni of Johns Hopkins’ Civility Initiative says the onslaught of rude, bullying and uncivil behavior—intensified by the 24/7 reach of the Internet and social-networking sites such as Facebook—adds to the stress people are already feeling and can translate into real and very tragic consequences.

According to Forni:

• Students who are bullied and/or cyber-bullied face increased risk for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidal attempts.
• Studies have shown that protracted exposure to stress caused by living in an uncivil environment lowers morale and increases the chances of developing coronary heart disease and other illnesses
• The American Psychological Association has estimated that workplace stress (considering absenteeism, loss of productivity, medical expenses and turnover) costs U.S. businesses about $300 billion a year

[zboy1]

The Bullying problem is getting progressively worse in America and I see it as a sign of further cultural degeneracy in the country. When a society becomes more and more ego driven and narcissistic--what do you think the end result is going to be?

[NorthAmericanguy]

It's easy to understand.

The USA is now a Prison Society. You have to either intimidate the baddest mother f***er in the room, at the office or school; or you have to actually beat the shit out of them. If you don't you become a bitch. This is how women behave - they challenge your alpha status and you need to assert dominance immediately or a life of pain ensues.

We have become dogs or wolves in the USA. Obviously.

Bullying is just Darwinism culling the weak. Runts of the litter are beaten, eaten, ignored or starved to death.

Life is brutal. Competition is fierce. It used to be that Civilization was constructed to keep these concepts a safe distance from life so that living could be tamer and more enjoyable.

In the USA, not anymore...

..and that is why the weak are beaten by the strong in High School.

+1