Food for thought -

[kyburg]

If you aren't reading theferrett, do. Do it now.

One for the guys....

And one for the girls....

The topic? Middle school bullying.

He's having trouble getting through the comments on the latter post.

Comments

[secanth.livejournal.com]

*Chuckle* I suspect he didn't know he was opening the floodgates on that one...

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

He's a guy. Some days, gender really does equal bias. Particularly when it refers to body image, don't you think?

[musicalchaos.livejournal.com]

I was wondering when he was going to cut through the BS oneupmanship... There's no honest comparison to say which is worse, and for someone to claim which is or isn't worse for which sex is incredibly... Gargh... just suffice to say it's shit all around, and there's a damn good reason I was too scared to skip grades, and even went as far as homeschooling to avoid middle and highschool in my respective locales. Bullying sucks for everyone involved, and I can only hope that somehow, someday we find a way to stop it.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

I told. Anyone who would listen. I TOLD.

It didn't make me popular, but I didn't put up with any crap.

People got interesting - really interesting - after I got into college.

Before then, I hung with people MUCH older than me. Like, I was 15 and they were 30. Or older.

[musicalchaos.livejournal.com]

*nods* I'm not necessarily proud of it, but in my own ways, I didn't brook shit either. One time was enough to give me a door to walk through, and I was a pretty heinous asshole of my own volition for the next 12 years or so. I still don't trust people of my own age group overmuch, and am far more inclined to not give them the benefit of the doubt, but I have at least learned to control myself in regards to others' actions. And like you, I've spent most of my time with older friends by way of my brother or sister or some organization or another. I'm quite happy to be on LJ for that reason actually... Never really worry about someone's age... it's more an after thought to getting to know the person.

[moropus.livejournal.com]

I read them all and cried. I have a new respect for other people's pain. Yes, I posted. You can tell how shock and horrified theferrett is. He obviously had no clue the range of abuse that is out there and his experiences were pretty nasty.

You can't decide who is worse, boys or girls, because it all sounds equally bad to me.

Makes me wonder why more schools don't have security guards every where. Makes me smirk at the sheer ignorance everytime somebody insists metal detectors or whatever are not really required in a school or insists its just plain wrong to call the cops out to arrest a child for assaulting another child.

Another LJer posted they are angry on my behalf about my experiences. I am stunned by that.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

And the range of denial is incredible. I told. I might have spent a bunch of time in counselor offices, but I told - nobody was in the dark about what was happening to me.

Problem was, most of the issues came from my own sister - and Mom never let her forget it.

Nothing changed, of course. Sis was a total delinquent in those days, and was spending her own time in counselor offices.

[lorriejharris.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, I don't think security guards would solve the problem. It has to be dealt with at home. My children were taught that bullying was wrong, and I taught them to tell.

I also advised a principal at the middle school my oldest daughter was attending that if the parents of the boys who were sexually harassing my daughter didn't do something about them, there would be a lawsuit against them, as well as the school for not protecting her against this kind of thing (and I'm not talking just lewd language...these things were more like sexual assault, because they werte grabbing her breasts and ass).

Interestingly enough, the harassment stopped immediately.