Much more complex than anyone seems to think
on
Sean In The Middle
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· Score: 1
People responding here seem to think that this whole deal is much simpler than it really is. To start with, there is a reason beyond pay and quality control that makes us have teachers that can't stop bullying... At least IMHO, most people who decide to become teachers are people who were not scarred by high school. I hated high school, I don't think that I would go back, even if I was a teacher... so these teachers were either bullies themselves (not as common) or were at least mildly popular to the point that they were oblivious to what was really going on.
Next is the cry-me-a-fucking-river commentary about "our hard earned tax dollars." This argument is bullshit. We can talk until we are blue in the face about how we are some sort of democracy, but it isn't true... we live in a republic. We could not live in a true democracy because of our size... so we go to our jobs and make the products and services that we need to live, and we elect others to hammer out all of our governmental issues. We give them that power, and we can take it away if we want with an election... but we empower them to ask us for money, we give it to them, and we empower them to spend it. Everyone in the country pays taxes to go to public education whether or not they have children in public schools, whether or not their children have been kicked out of public schools, whether or not they have children at all... just the same that we all pay taxes that go towards a bloated defense budget, tax breaks for Nordstrom and Microsoft, and any other of a multitude of things that I personally don't think that my tax dollars should be going to. Yeah, we have a right to ask for better service... but to do that we have to be active, we have to elect the right people to the board, we have to elect the right senators and representatives, we have to run for those positions ourselves, but remember that someone else somewhere disagrees with you, and they are trying to be active as well.
The (hate to use the phrase, but...) post-Columbine era has created a vicious cycle. High school is one of the most stressful times in someone's life. You get more independance, you have gone through most of puberty, you have to make decisions... blah blah blah... Every time the kid that you already hate disrespects you it hurts, a minor relationship with your "high school sweetheart" ending is like the crash of the Hindenburg... so you take a bunch of these kids, herd them into a small room, put up metal detectors, put up surveillance cameras, put in place "no tolerance" policies, encourage classmates to become spies for the administration, and then we wonder why kids are acting out? I think that it is even one of the reasons the bullies act out, not to mention the quiet kid who comes to school with an uzi. When I was in high school we got new surveillance cameras, and we would post signs that said "big brother is watching" on them. So kids act out, and have to do it in bigger ways because of the bigger pressure, and then they put in more security. It is not surprising to me that there is more and more violence in the schools.
I think the complexity can actually be exemplified with my mother. She works at a middle school and I get into arguments with her all the time about school security... she is in a precarious position on the subject because she had to deal with me being in school and coming home many days talking about how so and so tried to pick a fight with me, and how such and such administrator did something to me without punishing someone else in the in-crowd for doing the same thing. She was able to see reletively first hand what it was like for me as a geek to go through school and how the school administration turned a blind eye to it. On the flip side, she has concerns about her safety when she goes to work. She doesn't want to get shot or injured. She, to a certain extent, believes in these no tolerance policies and surveillance camera stuff. There are a lot of people caught in the middle of this, and when you have a school board meeting where a billion concerned parents show up to make sure that they feel their children are safe from guns, then something superficial is going to be done.
I feel a great deal of sorrow for this Sean, and for all of the other people who have to go through the same bullshit that I and many people on slashdot have had to deal with in our lives. I am sad that it still goes on, but I don't know how to stop it. Kids are cruel, and when the cruel kids grow up, they turn a blind eye to the kids that are being cruel.
I think that action is the only way to do anything... go to the board meetings, speak intelligently to administrations and teachers and other parents. Voice concerns in a logical way and not in a veangeful way, otherwise you are ignored.
On the flip side, if you are a kid, hit back if you are big enough, and if you aren't big enough, find someone who is big enough to hit for you. As sad as it is, bullies only really understand bully. Otherwise, don't fight back and understand that you are sticking by your morals and your convictions and KNOW that you are a better person for it. That is how I made it through high school (I found out later that I had a friend who was kicking ass behind my back).
One last note, I think that everyone should read this article in the Onion that was printed a while back that sums up this whole episode very well...
Slashdot Mirror
People responding here seem to think that this whole deal is much simpler than it really is. To start with, there is a reason beyond pay and quality control that makes us have teachers that can't stop bullying... At least IMHO, most people who decide to become teachers are people who were not scarred by high school. I hated high school, I don't think that I would go back, even if I was a teacher... so these teachers were either bullies themselves (not as common) or were at least mildly popular to the point that they were oblivious to what was really going on.
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Next is the cry-me-a-fucking-river commentary about "our hard earned tax dollars." This argument is bullshit. We can talk until we are blue in the face about how we are some sort of democracy, but it isn't true... we live in a republic. We could not live in a true democracy because of our size... so we go to our jobs and make the products and services that we need to live, and we elect others to hammer out all of our governmental issues. We give them that power, and we can take it away if we want with an election... but we empower them to ask us for money, we give it to them, and we empower them to spend it. Everyone in the country pays taxes to go to public education whether or not they have children in public schools, whether or not their children have been kicked out of public schools, whether or not they have children at all... just the same that we all pay taxes that go towards a bloated defense budget, tax breaks for Nordstrom and Microsoft, and any other of a multitude of things that I personally don't think that my tax dollars should be going to. Yeah, we have a right to ask for better service... but to do that we have to be active, we have to elect the right people to the board, we have to elect the right senators and representatives, we have to run for those positions ourselves, but remember that someone else somewhere disagrees with you, and they are trying to be active as well.
The (hate to use the phrase, but...) post-Columbine era has created a vicious cycle. High school is one of the most stressful times in someone's life. You get more independance, you have gone through most of puberty, you have to make decisions... blah blah blah... Every time the kid that you already hate disrespects you it hurts, a minor relationship with your "high school sweetheart" ending is like the crash of the Hindenburg... so you take a bunch of these kids, herd them into a small room, put up metal detectors, put up surveillance cameras, put in place "no tolerance" policies, encourage classmates to become spies for the administration, and then we wonder why kids are acting out? I think that it is even one of the reasons the bullies act out, not to mention the quiet kid who comes to school with an uzi. When I was in high school we got new surveillance cameras, and we would post signs that said "big brother is watching" on them. So kids act out, and have to do it in bigger ways because of the bigger pressure, and then they put in more security. It is not surprising to me that there is more and more violence in the schools.
I think the complexity can actually be exemplified with my mother. She works at a middle school and I get into arguments with her all the time about school security... she is in a precarious position on the subject because she had to deal with me being in school and coming home many days talking about how so and so tried to pick a fight with me, and how such and such administrator did something to me without punishing someone else in the in-crowd for doing the same thing. She was able to see reletively first hand what it was like for me as a geek to go through school and how the school administration turned a blind eye to it. On the flip side, she has concerns about her safety when she goes to work. She doesn't want to get shot or injured. She, to a certain extent, believes in these no tolerance policies and surveillance camera stuff. There are a lot of people caught in the middle of this, and when you have a school board meeting where a billion concerned parents show up to make sure that they feel their children are safe from guns, then something superficial is going to be done.
I feel a great deal of sorrow for this Sean, and for all of the other people who have to go through the same bullshit that I and many people on slashdot have had to deal with in our lives. I am sad that it still goes on, but I don't know how to stop it. Kids are cruel, and when the cruel kids grow up, they turn a blind eye to the kids that are being cruel.
I think that action is the only way to do anything... go to the board meetings, speak intelligently to administrations and teachers and other parents. Voice concerns in a logical way and not in a veangeful way, otherwise you are ignored.
On the flip side, if you are a kid, hit back if you are big enough, and if you aren't big enough, find someone who is big enough to hit for you. As sad as it is, bullies only really understand bully. Otherwise, don't fight back and understand that you are sticking by your morals and your convictions and KNOW that you are a better person for it. That is how I made it through high school (I found out later that I had a friend who was kicking ass behind my back).
One last note, I think that everyone should read this article in the Onion that was printed a while back that sums up this whole episode very well...
http://www.theonion.com/onion3532/columbine_jocks