[True_Moose]

I think this might seem to be a little off-topic BUT

It seems to me that a lot of people, in fact EVERYONE in the bullying cycle seems to take it with the wrong attitude. Often, the bully considers it necessary, normal or any of a number of attitudes. The victim takes it too personally (usually fairly wrongly) or as an indication of themselves. Oftentimes, the parents and the administrators read too much or too little into it. It's a fine line. There is always going to be teasing at schools, no doubt about it. That's fine. There is however, a line that CANNOT be crossed. It seems to me like there are some adults who are too eager to cross it (Johnny made a little joke at your expense? Oh, straight to the assistant principal!) and some who simply won't (these are those that ignore violent warning signs.)

Now, I'm not justifying anything in this post, I simply noticed this. There is some teasing to everyone. It's necessary, or else everyone is way too uptight around everyone else, for fear of setting them off, and is alone (another problem.) It's just that, we as a society have to better recognize when it goes too far, educate our kids better about it (One of my brother's health teachers told them to "Tell the bully that you don't appreciate it, and it makes you feel small". Great, how many bullies is that gonna stop?) and to figure out better ways to address the societal problems around this subject.

Another thing is the cross-gender bullying. Now, this is a rarer type, but it still exists, and is as bad as any other one. My brother, who is now 13, had severe problem with a group of girls in grade 6. They would call him at all times, sometimes 11 pm on a schoolnight (I'm not even up that late), put him down and just generally harassing him. It's a weird phenomenon, but I think that it's just as easy (and this kind DOESN'T get reported, for the fairly obvious reason that guys shouldn't get pushed around by girls.)

Sorry if this post seems rambly, but I have a whole bunch of different, intersecting thoughts on the issue.