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Kid Two Classes Down From Daughter Commits Suicide - Bullying

As a teacher this is incredibly frustrating. We can do a lot to support kids while they are in our classrooms and after school programs. But I don't have any control over what happens over social media. Some of those comments from the article are really sadistic and I would seek police involvement.
 
Shit like this scares the crap out of me as I have a teenager and pre-teen. I just try to show 100% support for them, talk to them, and give them unconditional love. It's all I can do, and I hope and pray that everything works out.
 
tynopik said:
no, you can go beat the snot of out of those tormenting your kids
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This is something I keep close track of with my own two. According to them, they aren't being bullied and they love going to school (not so much the homework). My son actually protected a nerdy kid one grade down from being bullied at Glen Hills for an entire year.
 
I hear you OP, their wanton disregard for life makes it difficult to not treat them in kind. That's the thing, hatred is a pathogen. It is highly contagious, and there is no defense for the sort of ISIS wannabe miscreants your kids have to spend the majority of their waking hours with.

It's tough, but you've got to teach them how to deal and cope with social media giving that evil a voice and apparent command. I imagine all of us here grew up before cellphones (and their cameras) were in the hands of every high schooler. Before social media existed. It's a new world they face, and I for one am not sure how one protects a child from it.

Maybe social media needs to be 18+, or accounts of minors heavily restricted and monitored for hate.
 
Jaskalas said:
Maybe social media needs to be 18+, or accounts of minors heavily restricted and monitored for hate.
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There are many parents who need their kids to have a cell phone, but I honestly don't know of any that need their kids to be on social media. Middle school aged kids are sending law breaking pictures through snap-chat and posting illegal activities on Instagram. This isn't isolated. It's at almost every school.
 
"So far this year, at least eight people under age 18 from Milwaukee County have taken their own lives."

That stat floored me. This is one county. This is an epidemic.
 
I totally sympathize with the desire to give the parents of those kids a serious beat-down. Since there's a record of what the kids did, sue the parents.
 
That's so sad, it's a huge issue now days and seems to be widespread, and it's a bit worse with social media. A lot of the bullying is verbal too, so you can't do anything to defend yourself since if you beat them up, you're the one that ends up in trouble. I had a bully like that in elementary.
 
Happens way too often. Kids are often rotten trolls. It's hard as hell to get them to open up due to insecurity or embarrassment. This continues into later life as well. Depressed people who feel like they are at the end of their rope often see no point or no value to their lives, and they won't speak up or ask for help because of that, or because they are also usually VERY insecure and likely have been hurt too many times to trust anyone. It sucks, but this is gonna continue to be a very very tough problem on the road ahead. Only way I can see forward to reduce this problem, is to try to treat everybody decently.
 
Red Squirrel said:
That's so sad, it's a huge issue now days and seems to be widespread, and it's a bit worse with social media. A lot of the bullying is verbal too, so you can't do anything to defend yourself since if you beat them up, you're the one that ends up in trouble. I had a bully like that in elementary.
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that really depends on the school/bully. i had one in HS who was convinced he could kick my ass. he was very very wrong. he was sent to the hospital with broken bones. got suspended for a week+ because he swung a stool at me as a weapon. i got suspended for 1 day (only because i technically hit him first) and was unharmed.

he (and anyone else) never bullied me again
 
Calling the kid "half-breed" and making fun of his accent I don't think are super serious, though if it's done on a daily basis and with malice (and not just ribbing) then that's different. Bullying is serious and widespread but I think kids should be able to take some insults and ribbing, I mean, I think you're gonna have a real hard time in life if you can't..

The comments from those girls about wanting to see him die and then being glad he did are on a whole different level; just disgusting. Their parents are probably scum too. That kind of bullshit is ridiculous and should be punished.
 
i wonder if we'll ever see manslaughter charges for pushing someone into suicide

(i'm talking about a more general 'being mean' than that one woman who purposely drove a guy to commit suicide and told him to 'get back in the car')
 
Back in my day the cool kids carried one of these, and it was their dad's.

4-_moviles.jpg


I remember bringing my dad's to school, I can't recall the context, I needed to call home for a ride or something that day, maybe I had an appointment. But I felt like some super important dude. 😛
 
As someone who was a constant target of bullying when I was younger I can't imagine being a youngster in this day with not being able to get away from it, and kids are vicious with their group mentality.

Anubis' comment above is interesting because it was the opposite for me. Any time I stood up for myself I just got hit with the 'turn the other cheek' and 'you're in the wrong' spiels. Made it so I didn't even want to go to school because they'd play the system. Teachers can be as much at fault as the kids.

Sadly, you also see the same mentality from many supposed adults as well. Humanity is constantly trying to make themselves feel better at the expense of others.
 
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I've got three children and two of them are gay, so they've had to confront their share of bullies. I raised them all to be loving, caring, strong individuals and to find their self-love and self-worth from within and from family. None of them are afraid of conflict or bullies and are always ready to stand up for what is morally right.

I don't think we can protect our children from bullying other than teaching them how to respond and fight back when necessary. Two days ago my youngest daughter, a high school senior, sat through basically a reinactment of the Stanford Experiment in her AP Sociology class. Students were put in charge of the daily grades of other students and did f'ed up stuff like force one kid to chew gum from under a desk and force another one to put a dirty sock in their mouth to earn a good grade. She was strong enough to refuse to participate and call the teacher out for letting the students act so inappropriately, for which I was very proud. She came home livid because several of the students were in tears at the end of class.

Our kids, especially teens, will be adults soon. We do them and society in general a disservice when we think we can shield them from bullying by turning off social media and such. By all means cut off your kid's social media access if you don't think they can handle it, but I feel it's better we give them the tools to tell right from wrong and be a voice against bullying now so they are prepared when they go out into the world later.

In less than a year my youngest will be old enough to vote and serve in the armed forces, and I won't always be there to protect her. Hopefully I'm raising her to be ready.
 
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