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> Adults can watch something happening and think nothing particularly significant is going on while some kids are experiencing extreme internal distress. I thi

> Adults can watch something happening and think nothing particularly significant is going on while some kids are experiencing extreme internal distress. I think because that is also often because they regard it as normal for kids. A lot of people say things like "bullying toughens them up". They would not think its OK for the same things to be done to adults. I wonder what the toughens them up lot would think if I showed up at their house with a few friends and gave them a light beating - I think calling the police would be a more likely outcome than thanking me for teaching them to be tough!

brightball 2y ago
There are levels to this stuff too. I got picked on all the time as a kid in school. I did not like it, but it did develop several traits that I learned to appreciate later in life. First and foremost, I am not the slightest bit bothered by anyone mocking me anymore. I don’t get easily embarrassed at all. At the same time, I also learned to fit in a lot better. Getting picked on for things I said or did create some social conditioning about what was and wasn’t acceptable. This type of bullying was helpful in hindsight. Physical bullying is different ballgame and I don’t understand anyone that thinks it’s acceptable. Cyberbullying is on a whole other level of publicly humiliating a developing child in front of everybody they know, often by anonymous people who will take steps to make sure it never goes away if they want to. The latter 2 are totally unacceptable and dangerous. The first getting lumped in with bullying creates bullying apologists I think, because there can be beneficial side effects of helping kids learn social norms.