I figured I'd discuss this because unlike many issues, this one isn't all that divisive along party lines.

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/01/how-should-schools-address-bullying/

New Jersey just passed and enacted a tough new bill to fight bullying in schools. Some say it's a long time coming(and too late for many) while others believe it goes way too far. While I see the potential for abuse, I also see little alternative. The entire culture of bullying in this country needs to change, and this may be the only way to force that change. It may seem harsh, but it may also be necessary to use such harsh penalties in order to stop the enabling of this behavior before any more lives are claimed by it. That said I welcome opposing views to this and look forward to what you guys have to say.
I'm personally split with something like this. Tons of kids get abused each year (it's common throughout the country -- it's hard to find a school that hasn't had at least a few deaths occuring because a bullied kid committed suicide or something like that) and it would be nice to crack down on that. However, at the same time many school systems already are armed against bullying to such an extreme that little jokes or even witty slurs can get you in trouble (I know three kids who got suspended: one because he called a kid a tool, another called a much older kid a dumbass, and a third put a gun app on his friend's phone).

I think that while it's nessicary to be strict against bullying, they need to make sure it doesn't apply the same "this kid will kill himself if someone calls him a derogatory term" profile on everybody, because it really only applies to a small group of people.
This is outrageous. There shouldn't even be legislation on this in the first place. Sure, it's tragic that some kids have killed themselves over bullying. It's up to the individual school to handle it, if at all. A quick skim of this page (whether or not it is reputable) shows me that there are less than 100 cases of this that have been reported. In 2000, there were 76.6 million kids enrolled in American schools. The number of kids that fall victim to "bullycide" (which is an absurd term) is so small that I wouldn't even consider the bullies to be responsible for their death - there must be some other physiological reason behind why they killed themselves. A normal person isn't teased into suicide, another reason or condition has to be at fault. Everyone is bullied in school. There is a huge number of them, and most people are better off knowing how to deal with troublesome people (the kind of people who they are guaranteed to have to deal with later in life), and an overwhelming majority of bullied kids turn out fine.

Anyway, thanks for reading my largely uninformed opinion.
good, I approve of this, if anyone wants to argue against this, please talk to the many marks I have on my from the countless encounters that involved me getting hit Very Happy

now to get this in NY....
It's a fast start. This is probably a bad analogy but it looks like they installed Anti-Virus Software. (Since you don't install the software over a period of days but instead literally in one go). Whether it'll work is what we'll find out. I'm also more interested in how many innocent kids will get into the system because some kid cried foul for whatever reason.

SirCmpwn wrote:
The number of kids that fall victim to "bullycide" (which is an absurd term) is so small that I wouldn't even consider the bullies to be responsible for their death - there must be some other physiological reason behind why they killed themselves.


Kids can be teased into depression and depression can lead to suicide. While depression can last long after the student leaves the school system, suicide is still a possible, and, lingering result. Bullies most certainly should be held responsible for any psychological affects caused by their actions, just as bullies who beat kids (albeit not as common as bullies who verbally abuse) are held for their actions.

Quote:
A normal person isn't teased into suicide,


No, a depressed person is more likely to commit suicide after teased. They'll likely feel worse about themselves and go from there. Or, a normal person is teased into depression where they'll maybe commit suicide on their own or teased enough to commit suicide.

Quote:
Everyone is bullied in school.


Speak for yourself, but I was never bullied. Unless there's an overwhelming statistic (99.7?) behind that and your rounding up.
I don't have a source, but I find it very hard to believe that you've never been teased. Physical aggression, qazz42, is different, and its called assault. You should handle it through the appropriate means.
Teasing doesn't lead to depression. A lot of the time, depression cannot be traced back to a reason. And yes, a depressed person is more likely to commit suicide, but for the reasons above, I don't think bullying really causes depression.
Heh, the assult was just the beginning... it only was for 1 year, the other years though, non stop verbal harrasment... It has pretty much calmed down, especially due to the fact I can use sarcasm when someone occasionally tries something funny on me Smile


EDIT: Use of the sarcasm comes from hanging around you guys all the time Very Happy of course, it is friendly sarcasm on the site Wink
That's good! Notice this, though: you handled it yourself just fine. It isn't the place of the government to get involved.
I would not mind sending a few tards I know to jail, it would make my life muuuch easier..
That's horrible, just because some kid teases some other child at school is not a reason to send them to jail. That is a gross violation of the first amendment. Physical abuse should not be tolerated, but kids have a right to verbally abuse other students, regardless of the moral obligations set forth by their upbringing.
I have a right to verbally abuse anyone I want? wow, I never knew that. According to my school I have no such right, but everyone else seems too
qazz42 wrote:
I have a right to verbally abuse anyone I want? Wow, I never knew that. According to my school I have no such right, but everyone else seems to.

(Edited for grammar)
Freedom of Speech means that you can say whatever you want, and the government, schools, and other institutions have a wonderful time ignoring this. However, in court, I'm positive that a judge would rule in the favor of the bill of rights.
SirCmpwn wrote:
qazz42 wrote:
I have a right to verbally abuse anyone I want? Wow, I never knew that. According to my school I have no such right, but everyone else seems to.

(Edited for grammar)
Freedom of Speech means that you can say whatever you want, and the government, schools, and other institutions have a wonderful time ignoring this. However, in court, I'm positive that a judge would rule in the favor of the bill of rights.
Might want to double check what "Freedom of Speech" protects and doesn't protect.
comicIDIOT wrote:
SirCmpwn wrote:
qazz42 wrote:
I have a right to verbally abuse anyone I want? Wow, I never knew that. According to my school I have no such right, but everyone else seems to.

(Edited for grammar)
Freedom of Speech means that you can say whatever you want, and the government, schools, and other institutions have a wonderful time ignoring this. However, in court, I'm positive that a judge would rule in the favor of the bill of rights.
Might want to double check what "Freedom of Speech" protects and doesn't protect.

The Fighting Words doctrine is total bull and is a direct violation of the first amendment.
I think the problem is not if someone gets bullied, but rather by how many people he is getting bullied and how often. I could handle the bullying in elementary school as soon as I got told how to, same for most of my 2nd to 5th year of high school bullying, but the 1st year of hi school bullying was so extreme that it was a different story and I did almost drop out of school because of it.

I think schools should just have someone that can help people in distress if they don't have one, because enforcing an anti-bullying law would be nearly impossible without risks of abuse (such as punishments just for a small snide remark). I think for physical abuse it's fine, though.
DJ_O, the problem with that is that people that are bullied will probably be too scared to report it to a teacher or another adult in the school. I think the best solution is to have schools give incentives for people to report bullying. At my school, we have something like that but it's not for bullying, unfortunately.
Ah yeah I forgot about that. Sadly when reporting them, in some cases you might have other consequences afterward as they take revenge. X.x
Or, how it is in my school, is that the bully makes up some bullshit lies, fake-cries, and YOU end up getting in trouble

works every time
Want to remove bullying in schools?

Give teachers back the power to give swats when a kid is needing punishment, none of that 'go sit in a corner and be good' bs that they are forced to do now :/ It just reaffirms to the kid that they can get away with anything without fear of any severe punishment.

The legislation is not going to do anything but make people find better ways to hide it and lie when confronted.
tifreak,

situation 1: Kid is misbehaving, parent does nothing or just tells the kid off, kid continues to scream/throw a fit. Everyone thinks the parent is horrible and the kid is a brat

situation 2: Kid is misbehaving, parent gives kid a spanking, nothing fatal, just a few swats. Everyone thinks parent abuses kid and parent is a monster.


you can't win Very Happy
  
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