tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7294499213897153104.post8598222355921767143..comments2024-03-27T09:00:32.195-05:00Comments on The Signal Watch: In which I recommend Schools Let Bigger Kids Beat Up Smaller KidsThe Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836241071795980225noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7294499213897153104.post-31440736386370786592011-03-17T16:05:28.774-05:002011-03-17T16:05:28.774-05:00well, these days schools ARE involving the police....well, these days schools ARE involving the police.<br /><br />At the end of the day, a lot of it must come down to parents, I'd guess. What parent is going to believe their darling angel was attacking some kid, completely unprovoked? Or that whatever happened to their tiny, weasely kid was, really, just part of the natural order?<br /><br />So when you have to balance it out with "all kids know they shouldn't fight" and big kids "should know they can hurt little kids" and little kids "know they can't hurt big kids" and trying to figure out what really happened... I think its just easier to come down on the side of "only one kid was going to get hurt, and you need to learn to be a bigger man when people are picking on you".<br /><br />Which, of course, doesn't mean ANYTHING in 85% of the situations boys find themselves in walking the hallways of their school. And, yeah, I think its just straight up laziness and fear on the part of administrators.The Leaguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04836241071795980225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7294499213897153104.post-63711191968451982942011-03-17T14:29:43.874-05:002011-03-17T14:29:43.874-05:00I don't want to sound conspiracy-theorish, but...I don't want to sound conspiracy-theorish, but is it possible that the extreme injustice of these bullying rules that punish the victim are actually designed for that express purpose? Is this meant to teach the big guy (and I've been the big guy) that they must suffer unlimited humiliations and never strike back because this is essential for our functioning society? I remember having junior high teachers seem genuinely puzzled that I would retaliate physically when getting spit on and having erasers thrown at me, as though this was an entirely normal (and tolerable) situation.<br /><br />And there's laziness, too. A crying fat kid is easy to deal with (by ignoring). A small kid with a broken leg? Now things get complicated.<br /><br />I honestly wonder what would happen if the bullied responded the way adults would. I mean, if I were walking down the street and a complete stranger fake punched me, then gave me two for flinching I'd call the police. I mean, of course! What if we charged the bullies with assault every single time? Seriously, I have no idea what would happen.Fantomenoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02943650057872740425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7294499213897153104.post-32821415745562845122011-03-16T21:24:44.542-05:002011-03-16T21:24:44.542-05:00Well, to be accurate, this happened in Australia, ...Well, to be accurate, this happened in Australia, I believe. And I'm not that surprised this could happen, what with all the Kangaroo Courts.<br /><br />Oh yeah. I went there.The Leaguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04836241071795980225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7294499213897153104.post-11083350754564127372011-03-16T16:43:58.744-05:002011-03-16T16:43:58.744-05:00Seriously, the big kid got suspended?? There's...Seriously, the big kid got suspended?? There's no size requirement equivalence on the crime of battery under the law. If that smaller kid did not get punished at all then if I was the other kid's parents I would litigate the hell out of that school district. <br /><br />-NTTAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7294499213897153104.post-44021352109894004222011-03-16T16:25:48.299-05:002011-03-16T16:25:48.299-05:00I don't know if I remember that, but I do know...I don't know if I remember that, but I do know that it was pretty clear I was responsible for my glasses (and all the grounding that that implies). I think when you have bad eyesight, and mine is terrible, I likely was pretty freaked out about the prospect of not being able to see for a week or two until new glasses arrived (this was on my mind constantly).The Leaguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04836241071795980225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7294499213897153104.post-27842938904115351282011-03-16T16:14:29.548-05:002011-03-16T16:14:29.548-05:00What I remember from those middle school days (bef...What I remember from those middle school days (before you had contacts) was "Do not ever knock Ryan's glasses off" even if you're just playing around.<br /><br />In fact, I was recently talking to Jas about that time you and him were wrestling and horsing around in the front yard of your house in Austin and Jas accidentally knocked your glasses off.<br /><br />I still have never seen you as mad as you were that time. The non-stop joker, comic fanatic, younger brother turned into a caged animal full of rage. It was also one of the only times I ever saw Jas immediately start apologizing to you.thevike13https://www.blogger.com/profile/18053975584805755293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7294499213897153104.post-37507126422268416372011-03-16T11:54:25.444-05:002011-03-16T11:54:25.444-05:00I am inclined to believe that was NOT the intentio...I am inclined to believe that was NOT the intention of the bigger kid, but a by-product of rage + adrenaline. I doubt if you'd caught him a quiet moment if he'd have said "yeah I saw something on WWE last night and I want to try it."<br /><br />This is exactly the problem when a bigger kid DOES stand up for himself - he really can hurt the smaller kid even unintentionally, which is why (at least as we were taught in our house) you're not supposed to ever make a move as the bigger kid.<br /><br />Again, I put it at 75% odds that bigger kid knew he did something he didn't want to do, and there were plenty of tears after this incident well before suspensions and police became part of the story.The Leaguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04836241071795980225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7294499213897153104.post-10911345503976958572011-03-16T10:53:59.687-05:002011-03-16T10:53:59.687-05:00Yeah, it's hard to know what to do. I'm n...Yeah, it's hard to know what to do. I'm not really in favor of ecouraging any sort of violence between kids, but I also remember the whole unspoken "no ratting" rule that separated kids from adults at that age. As memory serves, the mafia really had nothing on adolescent boys when it came to enforcing a code of silence.<br />And yeah, that little punk on the video definitely looked like he had SOME sort of retaliation coming. But man- that body slam onto the concrete looked like the kind of thing that could have really, seriously done some permanent damage.J.S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/03903186469796595837noreply@blogger.com