Bullying

[mav1234]

it's a myth that bullying to the point of suicides didn't happen back in the good ol' days when you could drink water from the hose and ride your bike without helmets. the arrival of the internet has not only added another dimension to bullying - a far more sinister one that is much harder to control - but it has allowed us to become aware of these bully/suicide incidents every single time they happen. frequency hasn't just randomly skyrocketed, but our awareness of it has.

i'm amazed that people can adopt such a lackadaisical attitude about it when it is so clearly a major, major issue.

Bullying to the point of suicide was less common "back in the good ol' days" because bullying was different, IMO. I do NOT Think it is just more awareness now, I think that bullying itself has changed (though I think some level of awareness has changed too). I may be wrong, I haven't done any studies on this stuff but I do know that I was bullied and I had many friends who had it bad too, and while there were extreme cases, I think these days there are *more* cases of extreme bullying etc.

As to "blocking people", tried that, but said people just posted stuff on their own wall, which of course got back to my previously mentioned family member.

[Seal (SmittyIsOurSavior)]

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[bLACKpANTHER]

They should show this film to every kid in middle school. I think it could single handedly cut down on a ton of bullying. An 11 year old boy hung himself because of bullying? I mean, 11 years old. You know it must've been really bad.

agreed

[Hawk]

that's pretty powerful stuff...especially when I think of my own 11 year old!

I don't talk about this very often for obvious reasons...but when I was 10, my oldest brother killed himself. At the time, in an effort to 'protect' me, my parents told me that he had gotten quite religious and he killed himself because he figured that heaven would be a much better place to be than here on earth. That just didn't sit right with me but I was told at the time, to just leave it at that.

As I aged, I wanted to know more and finally my parents told me that my brother was gay and was tormented about it on a continous basis. Living in a small town in redneck Alberta, it's not something that was or is commonly accepted.

so, I know first hand that bullying can be severe, and I agree with PhillyB that it's a myth that it didn't happen in the good ole days...but today with media coverage everywhere, we just hear about these things so much more than ever before.

[bleys]

a kid used to bully me until I punched him the face.. the adrenaline flowing through my body felt amazing..