Talk:Bullying

Ha! I'm a teacher, bullying is one of the biggest problems in the school system, and we certainly don't tell children to 'just deal with it.' See the Safe Schools Act. Monitor 12:57, 8 November 2007 (EST)

When I taught, I made sure the principal would support my Iron Rule: bullies are handed a note to take home to their parents. They can't come back unless their parents agree to a strict "no bullying" policy. Two kids never came back - much to the other kids' relief. --Ed Poor ^Talk 17:50, 9 November 2007 (EST)

I could actually say much here on this subject, but this short section, "The things people say..." is illuminating, particularly the last comment, "recommends the terms “bullying” and its variants," which comes from the author of Introduction to Propaganda Analysis. See recent updates at Wikipedia#Brandt / Berlet feud for more information. Rob Smith 22:19, 9 November 2007 (EST)

Not All Countries

Just with respect to this, in Australia (or NSW at least) most schools voluntarily run annual anti-bullying programs which arm the students with ideas on how to combat bullying and obtain help from an adult, in addition anti-bullying measures are within the syllabus for every year (we may watch a play on the effects of bullying for instance). Similarly police often adopt a hard line stance against bullying, we've recently gotten tougher new penalties for cyber bullying and physical bullying receives the full punishment of the law. I've read through the guide posted, and it is not a teaching guide but a pamphlet directed at parents, and seems to favour a preventative rather than reactionary approach. However, it says anything but that kids should learn to deal with it, the whole point is to tell parents how they can help their kids and on page 15 there is a section on on to how parents and teachers can work together to stop bullying, specifically "Parents and teachers need to cooperate to solve bully/victim problems." I don't know how on earth this source is used to justify "Educators have been known to countenance the practice by saying that as kids grow up, they simply must learn to deal with bullies", and a greater distinction needs to be made within the article between countries which do not take a hard line approach and others, such as Australia, which actively try to eradicate bullying from all educational institutions. TheGuy 19:13, 9 November 2007 (EST)

TheGuy, thanks for your input, and feel free to change the content page. That said, I would be very surprised if bullying in Australian schools is any different from anywhere else, regardless of what programs are run or what the guidelines say. It would surprise me if an "anti-bullying program" was a laughing stock in tough schools. Is Australia free of student gangs??? I don't think gangs are affected much by anti-bullying programs, for example. Godspeed to you.--Aschlafly 19:22, 9 November 2007 (EST)