The Batlord

Don't get me wrong, the idea that society is finally heading toward less violence and more understanding is great, but this whole Facebook, anti-bullying trend is annoying. It all seems to be more about self-righteous condemnation and whining than about giving any honest-to-god solutions. How do we deal with bullying? By stopping it apparently. Never mind that "bullying" and the mentality behind it is an intrinsic part of not just child but adult life as well. Apparently we don't need to deal with any other part of the equation that contributes to it, or the effects, or anything else, just the noogies.

Back when I was in school I had a counselor tell a group of kids that if they're being bullied that they should, among other ****turd advice, laugh with them when they're laughing at you. What's wrong with you? If I laughed with the guy who put me in a headlock I'd be considered either a ***got or a retard. Most likely both. What's the point of making sure your kid isn't being bullied if he becomes a social pariah who ends up hanging by his bed sheets because he can't deal with getting ****ed with without running off and crying to the school authorities? What's gonna happen when he's an adult and he can't deal with personal problems without seeking out someone else to intercede on his behalf? **** that. If your kid is being bullied, tell him to give the other kid a black eye. Sure his douchebag teachers might suspend him, but in the long run he'll be better off since he'll actually have the self-confidence to deal with his own problems.

And another thing, this whole "zero-tolerance" policy in schools is BS. They're not concerned with your child. The giant, bloated bureaucracy that runs the schools is just worried about accountability. If they say that they won't tolerate any violence whatsoever from any of the involved parties then they can't be sued by some whiny parent. The fact that the kids involved now have to deal with the fallout is apparently secondary to some ******* pencil pusher keeping his ****ty job.

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butthead aka 216

The bolded part is hitting the nail on the head. It's the reason I loathe feminist tards. Because their agendas are really about self-righteous soapboxing, whining, and not offering any actual solutions. It's the same with bullying. People love feeling like victims.

I wish when I was in school, I had the mindset I have now and could see the bigger picture. I was never bullied, but there was a couple times where I wanted to beat the snot out of some kid. I didn't, because the threat of being suspended, which really only mattered to me because of being suspended from the sports teams. Looking back, I would gladly trade a 3 day suspension for a Mike Tyson uppercut to a few certain douchers.

Less violence, more understanding = good. But it shouldn't mean pacifism. Sometimes violence IS the answer is my train of thought. Not always as a first resort, but if some guy wants to come up and knock the books out of a kids hands, that kid should haul off and try to take his chin off of his face with a right hook. Most times in a fight, the more intense man wins, not the biggest. If you're adrenaline is through the roof and you catch a bigger guy off guard, you have a good shot.



So another band I've been starting to explore more is Texas is the Reason.



Basically I was in Plug and we were talking about shows we had seen, and I remembered going to Warped Tour in 2007 and seeing New Found Glory play at one of the two main stages. And I remembered some gigantic 35 year old trying to beat up my buddy for bumping into his girlfriend. In hindsight, they were way too old to be front row at a New Found Glory set. But then again, most of the people attending are likely serving fries right now, and I saw attempted mosh pits at Angels and Airwaves and Dashboard Confessional shows before... So my expectations of people at these shows should be considerably lower.

So anyways, I decide to throw on some New Found Glory and as usual, I am googling stuff about the band while listening to a playlist. I see Texas is the Reason mentioned on a message board saying that NFG sounds a lot like them. So I check them out:



I heard this song first and thought it ruled. Basically they were also huge players in the '90s emo scene like The Get Up Kids were. I am looking forward to hearing more and next week sitting down and listening to an entire album to get a more full view of the band.

djchameleon

Well that shit doesn't fly anymore old timer. Bullying today isn't the same as it was back in your day. Bullying has amplified to a whole new level with the internet and you can't even escape it when you go home. You still receive harrassing messages all over social networks that you are apart of and get threatening phone calls saying "I'm going to kill you and die in a fire" It is more than just a little wedgie. They go on a more aggressive attack nowadays that is more psychological than physical.

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Fame, fortune, power, titties. People say these are the most crucial things in life, but you can have a pocket full o' gold and it doesn't mean sh*t if you don't have someone to share that gold with. Seems simple. Yet it's an important lesson to learn. Even lone wolves run in packs sometimes.

The Batlord

What's your point?

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djchameleon

Don't worry about it. You don't have to be bullied the same way that kids/teens are today so you wouldn't understand.

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Fame, fortune, power, titties. People say these are the most crucial things in life, but you can have a pocket full o' gold and it doesn't mean sh*t if you don't have someone to share that gold with. Seems simple. Yet it's an important lesson to learn. Even lone wolves run in packs sometimes.

The Batlord

I'm still not entirely sure the point you're making. If you're saying that ending bullying is a good thing then I agree. My point is that the way this whole new fad is going about it is short-sighted, lazy, and mindless. It's people basically saying that bullying is bad and therefore it should be stopped and then they stop thinking because they've gotten their pseudo-activist thrill for the day. The entire mentality behind bullying is too pervasive in society and too complex to be fixed with a few Facebook updates or a few episodes of Glee. Until society actually makes this a legitimate priority and starts allocating actual time, effort, expertise from the medical and psychological communities, commits to sweeping changes throughout society rather than just the school systems, and blah, blah, blah, then we're all just pissing in the wind so our feet will feel warm.

If this whole anti-bullying fad is good for much of anything besides a few small gains here and there it's that it's a sign that society is slowly changing their mentality about the issue. That gives me hope, but I don't think we're going to get the quick fix that a lot of people seem to be hoping for. And in the meantime I'm not going to let my hypothetical children suffer for it.

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djchameleon

My point is that bullying is different, way worse and more vicious than when you had to suffer through it. It is really different. It doesn't just go away with punching the one in the face that is going around bullying you to make you stop. It has dwarfed to a whole new level and that's why there is such an aggressive campaign nowadays to combat bullying period.

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Fame, fortune, power, titties. People say these are the most crucial things in life, but you can have a pocket full o' gold and it doesn't mean sh*t if you don't have someone to share that gold with. Seems simple. Yet it's an important lesson to learn. Even lone wolves run in packs sometimes.

Dr_Rez

I dont disagree with most of what you are saying but I think the reason for all the anti bully campaigns nowadays is because of todays feminine led societal values. Bully my son? You're sued.

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The Batlord

First of all, what Rez said, although I would say it has more to do with liberal values in general rather than specifically feminist values, secondly, I doubt you know any more about modern bullying than I do so how do you know that your claim that it is "way worse" isn't just being influenced by media hype? Maybe it is worse, but it's still a fad that will die down in time the same way the Kony 2012 thing did. It may take longer simply because it actually has something to do with "us" rather than someplace halfway across the world, but America's attention span is finite and we will eventually tire of this topic. And then we'll be left will half-baked laws and regulations that will probably affect bullying about as much as the war on drugs stops those same kids from smoking weed.

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