Zooze the Horse roams around the pasture near Lamar State College. Zooze thinks about problems in academia. Zhe wants proffies to submit posts (blog posts, not fence posts).
Monday, December 11, 2017
At all of our schools, in one form or another. . . .
I was on the receiving end of some teasing in middle school--can't really call it bullying since it wasn't that bad--when I was a kid. But it hurt, made me feel isolated, and mostly perplexed me. Like this kid, I've never really been able to understand the motive behind bullying. It seriously makes me want to rip out some fingernails.
The new buzz is that his mom is a racist nut. The response is that the kid, who is being raised badly, no longer deserves sympathy. The kid used the n-word, and it sounds like he does so regularly. I'm not condoning any of that. But he's being raised badly, and he's a child and he can still turn out to be a good adult, but NOT if society shrugs off him getting bullied because his mom is a *****. That's basically catalyzing his transformation to irredeemable adult-hate-monger.
Keaton was speaking from the heart in that moment at least. You're right that all of this could be good for him if it shakes his family awake to their hate and hypocrisy. And it can definitely be good for kids who are bullied if the mother doesn't singlehandedly ruin a touchstone moment. I'm so disgusted and saddened by these developments. This video could, to use your metaphor, be a catalyst for change. I hope it's not wasted.
What bullies get out of it is a feeling of power. They enjoy that, because they are well aware that they are not very powerful themselves---even though they'll NEVER acknowledge it.
This kid needs to know something I learned as a kid who was bullied himself: that living well is the best revenge. This might be relevant for anyone who feels the desire to fly a Confederate flag, too.
I was on the receiving end of some teasing in middle school--can't really call it bullying since it wasn't that bad--when I was a kid. But it hurt, made me feel isolated, and mostly perplexed me. Like this kid, I've never really been able to understand the motive behind bullying. It seriously makes me want to rip out some fingernails.
ReplyDeleteThe new buzz is that his mom is a racist nut. The response is that the kid, who is being raised badly, no longer deserves sympathy. The kid used the n-word, and it sounds like he does so regularly. I'm not condoning any of that. But he's being raised badly, and he's a child and he can still turn out to be a good adult, but NOT if society shrugs off him getting bullied because his mom is a *****. That's basically catalyzing his transformation to irredeemable adult-hate-monger.
ReplyDeleteKeaton was speaking from the heart in that moment at least. You're right that all of this could be good for him if it shakes his family awake to their hate and hypocrisy. And it can definitely be good for kids who are bullied if the mother doesn't singlehandedly ruin a touchstone moment. I'm so disgusted and saddened by these developments. This video could, to use your metaphor, be a catalyst for change. I hope it's not wasted.
DeleteWhat bullies get out of it is a feeling of power. They enjoy that, because they are well aware that they are not very powerful themselves---even though they'll NEVER acknowledge it.
ReplyDeleteThis kid needs to know something I learned as a kid who was bullied himself: that living well is the best revenge. This might be relevant for anyone who feels the desire to fly a Confederate flag, too.