[HPforGrownups] Re: School! Snape the bully? (kind of about to be long]e than James Was?)

[Carolin Mönkemeyer]

No: HPFGUIDX 78170



Laura :

Hmm.  It sounds like bullies have changed since my high school days,
lo those many years ago.  I don't think of bullies as smart or
likeable, and James and Sirius were both.

Me:
I thnk they really have or there are just several types of bullies. But BTW
I am reading a book about bullying in school (students bullying students).
It suggests some reasons:
- seeing it is "funny" (e.g. at adults or older peaople in general)
- getting respect and advantages by doing so
- trying to get more selfesteem (one reason could be no real "backup"  from
its parents -> Sirius was in such a situation)
- children often get reinforced in bullying others by not being punished or
even praised for it

So there are many reasons and some I think do clearly fit into what the
books one to five tell us and what both of us experienced.
Sirius had no good relationship whith his family so he might have tried to
get rid of the bad feeling that stayed by bullying somebody who was equal
but reachable for him. This also might have given him the advantage that he
could just let out his anger and all the bad feelings about his family.
Seeing it's "funny" or OK could be relating to what he saw in his early
childhood at home (treating "rubbish" (= house elves) badly and as far as I
could see he regards Snape very equal to something like that for he reminds
him of his family).
As far as we were told there was no punishment that was so bad that it had
to be mentioned. He only said to Harry that he wouldn't be proud of it (so
finally he grew up!). But this could have been reinforcing him when he was a
student...

So now the future teacher had her go on the topic. Sorry if I bored you with
the length of my post....

Yours Finchen