Bullying

Dear Residents of this vast underworld,

How is everyone? May Hades smile down upon you all. He is most certainly not smiling down at me at this moment. But …

Subject: Bullying Wed Feb 06, 2013 8:06 pm

So I'm pretty sure that at one point or another in our lives, we've all seen or been bullied. There have been many reasons behind why, tragic or despicable, and it's an absolutely horrible thing that can cause depression, self-loathing, and even suicide among its victims. Thus, I have given you some questions down below for you to ponder upon and share with the Underworld.

Have you ever been bullied, seen bullying, or been a bully yourself? Why and/or what did you do about it?
[answer here]
What do you think is the most harmful type of bullying: physical, verbal, mental, or cyber?
[answer here]
Do you think bullying is so serious, the government should get involved?
[answer here]
What would you like to say to those who are currently being bullied?
[answer here]
Any other thoughts?
[answer here]

Subject: Re: Bullying Wed Feb 06, 2013 8:44 pm

Have you ever been bullied, seen bullying, or been a bully yourself? Why and/or what did you do about it?
I remember when I was in Kindergarten and my "friends" just treated me like a slave and only hung out with me when they felt like it. I was too small then to realize I was just sort of a plaything to them - I was too busy being happy when they kept me around - but now whenever I think of those times I cringe. Compared to a lot of people though, that's absolutely nothing. Thankfully, I've never seen anyone being bullied, but I hope that if I do encounter it one day, I'm strong enough to stop it.

What do you think is the most harmful type of bullying: physical, verbal, mental, or cyber?
This is a weird question, because although my answer is verbal (things like that stay with you forever) other types of bullying can lead to emotional distress. However, I do believe the most common type of bullying (verbal insults, etc) are the worst.

Do you think bullying is so serious, the government should get involved?
Bullying is definitely serious, but I'm not sure government should play too big of a role. I sometimes think that government involvement might make the problem bigger. What I really think is that society just needs to get its act together, and with the people I've surrounded myself with, it may be possible.

What would you like to say to those who are currently being bullied?
Because I have little to no experience with this, my words hardly mean anything. What do I know? But I just want to say that every life is valuable, and that if you are being bullied, stay strong, keep fighting, and make some friends. It may be hard, but everyone has something great to offer the world.

Any other thoughts?
Bullying is a very serious subject, and I think a lot of people are starting to see it that way now. The truth of the matter is, it'll probably never end - the real issue is just to be able to see it and intervene when it happens. Like parents paying more attention to the causes of kid behavior rather than punishing, and friends blowing it off, etc. I'm glad you brought this up, Tori, because now if anyone wants to rant about it, etc, they can.

Subject: Re: Bullying Thu Feb 07, 2013 1:53 am

Have you ever been bullied, seen bullying, or been a bully yourself? Why and/or what did you do about it?
In first or third grade, there was an older student on the bus who used to tease me and such. I don't think I really reacted much to most of it, being too young to understand, but I can distinctly recall breaking out into tears when she insulted my family.
When I was in seventh grade, and then the beginning part of eighth grade, there was this girl who used to mess around with me a lot. She had just moved there in seventh grade, a semester after I did, so I suppose she was self-conscious or something. Honestly, she was several inches shorter and her insults weren't particularly clever, but it was still kind of hurtful. She called me a slut, whore, etc, and slammed my head into the water fountain once, throwing basketballs at my head in other situations. But afterwards she would act like she was my friend, so I was never certain about whether that was genuinely how she interacted. I didn't really react much- I just ignored her, I guess?

What do you think is the most harmful type of bullying: physical, verbal, mental, or cyber?
I'd have to say mental, though I consider that to be closely woven in with verbal bullying. I think mental bullying is more likely to make a person berate themselves as well, doing half of the bully's objective for them.

Do you think bullying is so serious, the government should get involved?
While I agree that it is serious, I don't know how effective the government would actually be in preventing it. There are varying degrees of it, after all, and it would be hard to identify them specifically enough to actually make an impact on it. Bullying is to versatile to be dealt with easily.

What would you like to say to those who are currently being bullied?
I don't know, actually. It gets better is probably a cliche, huh?

Subject: Re: Bullying Wed Mar 13, 2013 2:02 pm

Have you ever been bullied, seen bullying, or been a bully yourself? Why and/or what did you do about it?
I have been bullied pretty much my whole life, but then again who hasn't? It mostly started when I was in 2nd grade. I moved to the south from the north so I was mostly picked on because of my 'strange' accent. I also had more baby fat then a lot of the kids around and in my area, so that was more ammunition. The brunt of it all was in seventh grade when I moved yet again to another school. So I must say that I have always really been the victim, I never did much about it because of how insecure I am. I just ignored the bullies and that sometimes bothered them and they would keep going on and on, even though this has made me a tad cold, its made me stronger over the years.

What do you think is the most harmful type of bullying: physical, verbal, mental, or cyber?
Bullying is bullying, it shouldnt matter if its digital face to face or a a slight shove. All types of bullying are very harmful, and even if there is no meaning behind what was done, it still is a terrible thing to do. It always leaves a mark.

Do you think bullying is so serious that the government should get involved?
That honestly depends, in my eyes its a double edged sword. On one side, bullying is harmful and scarring and having the government involved could put an end to it. But on the other hand, this could only work if the victim is willing to tell an authoritative figure. And that is not always the case, it is a terrifying thing to go through. The mind games that could be played could also stop one from telling the authorites. So I suppose I am neutral on this one.

What would you like to say to those who are currently being bullied?
No matter how hard things get, how scary, and how alone it can be. Just know that somehow someway things will get better. Sometimes things do have to get worse before they can get better. Like a puzzle that is all wrong, you have to make it fall apart to finally see what went wrong and fix it.

Any other thoughts?
Just remember, Bullies are often not as strong or overpowering as they seem. Sometimes their lives are terribly lonely, so think about that when you feel that it is a one sided thing. Bullies can also sometimes be the one who are bullied.