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No! Just because something isn't your fault and isn't your responsibility doesn't mean you can not or should not address it. You have a choice. Everyone is "aw

No! Just because something isn't your fault and isn't your responsibility doesn't mean you can not or should not address it. You have a choice. Everyone is "aware" of school yard bullies. No one doubts it is going on. All your peers as a kid are very well aware of the basic animal behaviours going on even if they don't yet think of them as such. The stigma is just sitting around taking it or waiting for someone to do something about it. You have a responsibility to yourself to address it and that is what needs to be taught. "Whether a bully gives up on a victim is entirely up to the bully and the power structure in the environment, not the victim" The power structure is what is inhibiting the individual from acting! Zero tolerance policies neuter human behaviour which needs to be expressed especially when people are young. If you don't fight physically or not, make up and move on as a kid, and learn the consequences of each route and how to navigate them you will become a frustrated passive aggressive adult or worse, go postal and let it all out in a terrible tsunami of pent up rage. All animals fight and play fight and then move on. I really hope we can stop trying to deny our base instincts and instead learn how to control them _within_ ourselves.

eschaton 13y ago
Awareness means more than knowing something can happen. It means having ways to address it. It is not the victim's responsibility to "stand up to" a bully. It is the responsibility of the power structure to prevent bullying as much as it can, and take seriously and address bullying when it happens; avoiding this responsibility doesn't help anyone but bullies. It is actually this abdication of responsibility that causes a power structure to enable rather than prevent bullying, because it results in few or no consequences for the bully and no improvement in environment for the victim.
- whistlerbrk 13y ago
  So, I don't believe that any power structure can so easily address the bullying issue without delving into grey areas. You need only look at the legal system which does delve into grey areas of inter-personal conflict for an example. So the alternatives from a system wide level are don't address it all or be very strict. We went to latter extreme with "zero tolerance" policies, which have failed. Not addressing it all is also bad, because as others have pointed out, we don't live in a fairy tale land where turning around and hitting the bully always works. So then what's the choice? Don't structure it. Give the power to the adult in the room, the teacher, to mediate. They are the people with the best information and closest to the situation. They know their kids. Great teachers, great camp counselors, all do the same thing - 'are you guys okay, or am I going to have to tell the principal about this?'. They play that incredibly delicate role of, do you want to deal with each other and me, or the big bad unknown of the administrator down the hall? Having that level in between means they maintain the confidence of their charges and the power to elevate as well. Unfortunately, teachers today, have been stripped of their ability to act in this capacity. Now, we could very well be talking about the same thing, since the teacher in this example could be said to be part of the power structure. My point of course is, we can't have a rule book when dealing with these matters, only a guidebook. Fair?

eschaton 13y ago

Awareness means more than knowing something can happen. It means having ways to address it. It is not the victim's responsibility to "stand up to" a bully. It is the responsibility of the power structure to prevent bullying as much as it can, and take seriously and address bullying when it happens; avoiding this responsibility doesn't help anyone but bullies. It is actually this abdication of responsibility that causes a power structure to enable rather than prevent bullying, because it results in few or no consequences for the bully and no improvement in environment for the victim.

whistlerbrk 13y ago
So, I don't believe that any power structure can so easily address the bullying issue without delving into grey areas. You need only look at the legal system which does delve into grey areas of inter-personal conflict for an example. So the alternatives from a system wide level are don't address it all or be very strict. We went to latter extreme with "zero tolerance" policies, which have failed. Not addressing it all is also bad, because as others have pointed out, we don't live in a fairy tale land where turning around and hitting the bully always works. So then what's the choice? Don't structure it. Give the power to the adult in the room, the teacher, to mediate. They are the people with the best information and closest to the situation. They know their kids. Great teachers, great camp counselors, all do the same thing - 'are you guys okay, or am I going to have to tell the principal about this?'. They play that incredibly delicate role of, do you want to deal with each other and me, or the big bad unknown of the administrator down the hall? Having that level in between means they maintain the confidence of their charges and the power to elevate as well. Unfortunately, teachers today, have been stripped of their ability to act in this capacity. Now, we could very well be talking about the same thing, since the teacher in this example could be said to be part of the power structure. My point of course is, we can't have a rule book when dealing with these matters, only a guidebook. Fair?