Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Bullied to Death

The attention “bullying” is getting due to the recent suicide of Phoebe Prince has created a long overdue discussion on the issue, but one that completely misses its mark. No one wants to know the real root causes because the solution isn’t one anyone is prepared to respond to. The behavior witnessed occurs in arenas where people are powerless and have to carve out some situation where they can exert some degree of control. The most dramatic displays of that kind of abusive behavior are in prison followed by schools. These oppressive environments are wholly responsible for creating breeding grounds for aggressive behavior. The article below is very well written and presents some heartbreaking cases, but is endemic of the misguided response. In this instance the proposal, unsurprisingly, is therapy. The underlying theory is that schools will function the way we desire when every student has been psychologically conditioned to accept the nature of their incarceration. Obviously, the biggest bullies in school are the administrators and teachers who exert virtual absolute power over students and use that power capriciously.




Bullied to Death


As a group of teens in Massachusetts face landmark charges for harassing 15-year-old Phoebe Prince so brutally she committed suicide, Lucinda Franks speaks to teen bullies and a pioneering teacher about why kids torment peers.

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