[HPFGU-OTChatter] Bullying

[Shaun Hately]

On 25 Jul 2002 at 16:57, Jennifer Boggess Ramon wrote:

> This is certainly a common theme in fiction (it shows up in lots of 
> teensploitation films, for example, especially those starring Michael 
> J. Fox), and may be the case for Neville, within the framework of the 
> books.  However, the author of this post seems to be advocating it in 
> the Real World as well, and as a teacher who has had to deal with the 
> question of bullying on both a personal and professional level, I 
> feel obligated to (pedantically, I'm afraid) point out that this is 
> not at all true in the real world.  At best, it encourages the bully 
> in question to pick another victim, but it's often unsuccessful; at 
> worst, it marks the current victim for far worse treatment.  There is 
> *no* research indicating that it cures the bully - quite often, it 
> reinforces their violent worldview.  It's also the first step in the 
> classic progression of the victim who becomes a bully himself (or, 
> more rarely, herself).
> 
> For a fairly comprehensive look at the problem of bullying in the US 
> school system, SuEllen and Paula Fried's book _Bullies and Victims_ 
> is a solid overview and only slightly out of date.

Yeah, I saw that as well - and I have to say I largely agree with Jennifer here. I was 
a *serious* victim of bullying at school, and was constantly being told this by various 
people - 'hit them and they'll stop.' Well, I rarely did that - but when I did, it very 
rarely worked. Generally, it just made things far far worse.

I do think it can work in some cases, though - it depends on the particular bully. 
Another piece of erroneous information I kept being given was that 'all bullies are 
cowards'. Well, they're not. Some are - some are anything but. With the cowards, 
it's possible that they will back off if they are hit - there's a reasonable chance in my 
opinion. But that's only one case - one group - and even there, it's not universal.

But for this reason, I think with Neville in HP, it might have some real value. Draco 
is a coward in many ways.

There were only two things that really stopped me being bullied - the bullies actually 
growing out of it (most did, but not all), and... well, the other one isn't at all PC, but 
eventually I wound up at a school where bullies got caned. That worked as well - 
well, it made me feel better (-8

(Seriously, it didn't work in isolation - it wasn't that that school had the cane - it was 
more that it had a whole range of methods of dealing with bullies and it used all of 
them - counseling, mediation, isolation - basically they took it seriously and they 
kept looking for solutions in the hope they'd find one that worked).

Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately |webpage: http://www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       |email: drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in
common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter
the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen
to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who:
The Face of Evil | Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia