4 ms·

my first highschool was a private single sex catholic school: the bullying problem there was intense. there was a lot of emphasis on rugby and football and othe

my first highschool was a private single sex catholic school: the bullying problem there was intense. there was a lot of emphasis on rugby and football and other team sports, we were all made to wear uniforms and ties, go to chapel, make the school look good. There was a consistent problem with interpersonal violence, big trouble makers were often the football players though we also had clearly troubled individuals. For the last two years of my schooling I swapped to a coed public (yet highest scoring) special college literally just down the road. suddenly there was no bullying problem. I mean, compared to the other school it was practically zero. there was no uniform, kids could smoke outside if they wanted, you could not turn up to class, you were free to leave the grounds when you wanted. you could eat and drink when and where you wanted, and teachers were called by their first names. I couldn't even tell you if we had sports teams because no one cared, I literally don't remember. whatever the difference, it's either not human nature, or it can be overcome. I've lived it, so I know it's true.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
andi999 6y ago
Probably if attendance was not a requirement, the most disagreeable persons left the compound. This is a solution of course (which sounds less harsh than expulsion)
- ACow_Adonis 6y ago
  could have had a part in it, I'll fully admit. I know it lessened the tension in many of us, not just the trouble makers. I wasn't a bully, but also to advantage of not turning up to assume classes. honestly though, I can't speak highly enough of it, it was just what I needed after the first school. i hope that was that a deliberately joking use of the word 'compound' to refer to a school? (though probably how I felt about my first school emotionally). we had very few expulsions at the first school during my time there. but I can remember several instances of kids bullied until they had to leave. honestly it all seems so unjust and barbaric looking back.
  - andi999 6y ago
    English is not my first language. I meant 'compound' in the sense 'a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence'. Where I am every school has a fence (also as insurance line). But maybe this usage of this expression is uncommon.
    - yeahnah22 6y ago
      Compound has no negative connotations, but is not really used in this context either. Typically one would just say - the school, or perhaps the grounds. Campus is also common; but generally in the context where the school has multiple campuses.
tkgally 6y ago
My high school experience sounds somewhat similar to your second school. It was a large public high school in Southern California in the 1970s with about equal numbers of black, Anglo white, Hispanic, and East Asian students from lower-class and middle-class backgrounds. The school was unexceptional academically, and it did have problems, including gang activity (Crips and Bloods), racial tension, and drug and alcohol abuse among the students. But I don’t remember any of the emotional, social-hierarchy-based bullying that I have since read about at other high schools. I wonder if that might have been due to the size and diversity of the student population.
watwut 6y ago
Authoritarian institutions do consistently end up with a lot of bullying. Catholic church had massive bullying problems in its institutions multiple times when they run them. Something about that obeyssance based value system makes it so.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

andi999 6y ago

Probably if attendance was not a requirement, the most disagreeable persons left the compound. This is a solution of course (which sounds less harsh than expulsion)

ACow_Adonis 6y ago
could have had a part in it, I'll fully admit. I know it lessened the tension in many of us, not just the trouble makers. I wasn't a bully, but also to advantage of not turning up to assume classes. honestly though, I can't speak highly enough of it, it was just what I needed after the first school. i hope that was that a deliberately joking use of the word 'compound' to refer to a school? (though probably how I felt about my first school emotionally). we had very few expulsions at the first school during my time there. but I can remember several instances of kids bullied until they had to leave. honestly it all seems so unjust and barbaric looking back.
- andi999 6y ago
  English is not my first language. I meant 'compound' in the sense 'a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence'. Where I am every school has a fence (also as insurance line). But maybe this usage of this expression is uncommon.
  - yeahnah22 6y ago
    Compound has no negative connotations, but is not really used in this context either. Typically one would just say - the school, or perhaps the grounds. Campus is also common; but generally in the context where the school has multiple campuses.

tkgally 6y ago

My high school experience sounds somewhat similar to your second school. It was a large public high school in Southern California in the 1970s with about equal numbers of black, Anglo white, Hispanic, and East Asian students from lower-class and middle-class backgrounds. The school was unexceptional academically, and it did have problems, including gang activity (Crips and Bloods), racial tension, and drug and alcohol abuse among the students. But I don’t remember any of the emotional, social-hierarchy-based bullying that I have since read about at other high schools. I wonder if that might have been due to the size and diversity of the student population.

watwut 6y ago

Authoritarian institutions do consistently end up with a lot of bullying. Catholic church had massive bullying problems in its institutions multiple times when they run them. Something about that obeyssance based value system makes it so.