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There is a lot of talk from many people about bullying in school. The problem is that it is all talk. There is no sign that anybody is going to do anything that is likely to reduce bullying.
When politicians want to do nothing, and yet look like they are doing something, they appoint a blue ribbon committee or go to the U.N. or assign some Cabinet member to look into the problem and report back to the President -- hoping that the issue will be forgotten by the time he reports back.
When educators are going to do nothing, they express great concern and make pious public pronouncements. They may even hold conferences, write op-ed pieces or declare a "no tolerance" policy. But they are still not going to do anything that is likely to stop bullying.
In some rough schools, they can't even stop the bullying of teachers by the hooligans in their classes, much less stop the bullying of students.
Not all of this is the educators' fault. The courts have created a legal climate where any swift and decisive action against bullies can lead to lawsuits. The net results are indecision, half-hearted gestures and pious public pronouncements by school officials, none of which is going to stop bullies.
When judges create new "rights" for bullies out of thin air, just as they do for criminals, and prescribe "due process" for school discipline, just as if schools were little courtrooms, then nothing is likely to happen promptly or decisively.
If there is anything worse than doing nothing, it is doing nothing spiced with empty rhetoric about what behavior is "unacceptable" -- while in fact accepting it.
Might educators abuse their power, if the courts did not step in? Of course they could. Any power exercised by human beings can be abused. But, without the ability to exercise power, there is anarchy.
When responsible officials are prevented from exercising power, then bullies exercise power.
President Barack Obama has joined the chorus of those deploring bullying. But his own administration is pushing the notion that a disproportionate number of suspensions or other punishments for members of particular racial or ethnic groups is discriminatory.
In other words, if a school suspends more black males than Asian females, that is taken as a sign of discrimination. No one in his right mind really believes that, but it is part of the grand make-believe that pervades our politics and even our courts.
For years, there have been stories in New York and Philadelphia newspapers about black kids beating up Asian classmates. But do not expect anybody to do anything that is likely to put a stop to it.
If these were white kids beating up Hispanic kids, cries of outrage would ring out across the land from the media, the politicians, the churches and civic groups. But it is not politically correct to make a fuss when black kids beat up Asian kids.
None of this is unique to the United States, by the way. The same mushy-minded attitudes have been carried even further in Britain, both as regards criminals and as regards bullies in the schools.
Britain was once one of the most law-abiding nations on earth. But the reluctance of the left to put some serious punishment on criminals has been carried so far there that only 7 percent of convicted criminals actually spend any time behind bars. Britain has now overtaken the United States in various crime rates.
Years ago, there was a book published in Britain titled "Murder in The Playground." The boy who ended up killing a fellow student on the school playground had previously committed crimes ranging from motorcycle theft to arson that created more than $50,000 worth of damage in school. For the latter, he was given 24 hours' detention.
People who say that we should learn from other countries almost always mean that we should imitate what other countries do. But one of the most important things we can learn from other countries is to avoid the mistakes they have made.
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To find out more about Thomas Sowell and read features by other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2011 CREATORS.COM
April 19, 2011 @ 9:51 am
Amen to that! When an authority figure (including a parent) is prevented from taking thoughtful and decisive action against evil influences, then the lesson that there are higher standards goes untaught. If it is ever learned, whether in a courtroom or on Judgment Day, it’ll be too late.
April 19, 2011 @ 10:05 am
Can we please start with government employees who bully?
I would support serious physical consequences for any government employees who lies or knowingly misleads the public in anyway – that is a form of bullying.
April 19, 2011 @ 11:36 am
Sparky, I happen to be a government employee. I have been called every obscene name in the book by members of the public who call my office. And this happens every day, all day. And before you start talking about how much you pay me to take the abuse that you hand out, let me tell you three things. First, I am a taxpayer too. Yes, every month, 30 percent of my check is taken before I ever get to see it. That doesn’t include the property tax I pay, the sales tax I pay and the other fees that I pay just like you. I am a citizen of this country and surprisingly, I have the same rights you have. Second, I am a degreed professional and I make less money than a first year school teacher. Finally, I have to listen to people call me names, express opinions on issues that some robocall told them to express and hold the phone away from my year because someone is yelling, without a chance to rebut or defend myself. So in my opinion, loud mouthed, uninformed, hateful members of the constituency that I serve are the bullies.
April 19, 2011 @ 12:32 pm
Tex,
Unfortunately, you are the messanger! Noone has the right to degrigate or yell at someone just to do it!
And I do know what you are talking about. Being unemployed for 16 months gives one ample time to observe what happens at these agencies! I have had my benefits screwed up many times, and each time required multiple visits to my local unemployment office (NW Chicago burbs). I have seen the abuse that some of these employees go thru, though no fault of their own! People get to counter and tear into them without ANY consideration that they are talking (yelling/cursing) to an individual who had no knowledge or part of the screw up! There is no civility left (or very little)!
All I know is that EVERY time (except 1 of ~20 visits) that I was helped, the clercs/employees were courtious and caring about my situation, making my visits less complicated!
April 20, 2011 @ 3:22 pm
Texanna… your math is all wrong. I don’t believe your 30% tax, even if you toss in SS / Med.
TerryDK… if a government clerk can’t get it right, they need to take a hike… although they just missed Big Mac’s opportunity. Hopefully you are employed now.
I would encourage being courteous… but do not take either ineptitude or an attitude from any public employee. Ask to see their boss and follow-up through proper channels. Insist on pleasant competence. It isn’t a job for life…
April 19, 2011 @ 10:18 am
I have more experience with being bullied than most people I have ever met. I was the White guy in a city that was 75% Hispanic. From age 9 till age 15 I was jumped at least twice a week both at school and the way to and from school. This continued until we moved to another city. I always fought back it got me into the principals office on more than one occasion. They did very little to address the problems. The only thing they did was give us swats with a one inch thick paddle. This did not solve the real problem although it did deter some of my attackers, others just got more violent.
The parents are to blame first because the are not doing their job raising their kids. In the same breath I blame liberals because they have force physical punishment out of use. They even tried to make it illegal to spank your child. The liberals don’t want you to have control over bringing up your children. The have that it takes a community to raise a child attitude. Well the only thing that attitude gets is some smart *** kid telling you I don’t have to listen to you or do what you say. They know they can getaway with it because the tell kids to turn their parents in.
I have read stories where situations like this have happened and in the end the child suffers. The parent goes to jail the kid gets put in a home and life is never the same again.
IMPEACH OBAMA NOW! ! ! ! ! !
April 19, 2011 @ 1:39 pm
My son is a target of bullies. He and I have talked about him fighting back, but there are two problems with that. First, he is one of the smallest kids in his grade. The kids that typically pick on him are much larger. His chances of getting seriously hurt are fairly high. Second, he would most likely get in trouble as well. The school does not discriminate against the people who start the fights and the people who are merely defending themselves. He is a straight A student and wants the perks that go with that. Unfortunately, if you get detention or ISS for fighting, you don’t get to do the activities reserved for the kids with all A’s.
It has been my experience that the school administration simply wants the problem to go away without actually having to do anything about it. They don’t know what to do, so they do nothing.
April 19, 2011 @ 3:05 pm
@ txgoatlady
“. . . the school administration simply wants the problem to go away without actually having to do anything about it.”
This sums up your approach as well. You send your son to school every day knowing that he’s going to be tormented?
What is it with American parents? They send their kids to schools with armed guards. They send their kids to schools where mass murders have occurred.
Does it ever occur to anyone to take their kids out of these hellholes and do whatever’s necessary to see that they’re educated in a safe place? Would that mean making sacrifices? Oh well, never mind then.
Get engaged, people. You can’t expect anyone else to care about the safety of your kids if you don’t care yourself.
April 19, 2011 @ 10:34 am
CZARDOM & GOMORRAH
“We are in your schools now and polluting
All the innocent minds we’re rebooting:
There’ll be total immersion
In every perversion
And the schools will be safe for recruiting.”
The anti-bullying movement is just another way to insert the gay agenda into the schools.
April 19, 2011 @ 10:46 am
I agree with Mr Sowell about bullying. After all these yrs(57) it is still the same as when I went to middle school in Detroit. When my Parents moved to Detroit in ’49 from the rural South it was a big change for me and my 2 bro’s. When I went to this Middle Sch in the 9th gd it was murder. The School was about 90% Black with no protection from anyone for kids who were not Black. We were chastised everyday between classes and on our way home(1 mile & no buses then). Being from a rural area we learned at a very early age to protect ourselves when we were away from the house(not to far) from things that could hurt us–snakes-animals(some could be rabid). This helped us survive a very harsh reality. I grew up hating Blacks with a passion but as I got older the hate relinquished some. No one was concerned about my “Civil Rights” or our Teachers in that Period. Society has neglected to protect our children while in school. I know what to do about this problem but nobody would listen. Good take on this issue Mr Sowell
April 19, 2011 @ 12:57 pm
Sounds like bullying has changed quite a bit since I was a kid. Back then, it was the bigger or older guys trying to push everyone else around. I always fought back, usually lost, yet did manage to draw a little blood now and then.
What Sowell describes sounds more like racial warfare than traditional bullying and is primarily perpetrated by young black males. No surprise there. Their ‘leaders’ tell them they’re victims before they’re old enough to spell the word (if ever). The PC crowd has made it impossible to discipline them.
So these boys continue to think they’re invincible, impregnate a few young girls, and the cycle continues with no responsible father to be found (well, you might check courthouse records).
April 19, 2011 @ 1:44 pm
We don’t have very many blacks in our school district. It is mainly the “jocks” and the Mexicans that do all the bullying at our school. Most of the jocks are the bigger or older kids you described. I don’t know if the school is afraid to do anything about the Mexican kids for fear of claims of racism. At a mostly white school that may be the case.
April 19, 2011 @ 9:03 pm
Let’s face it, deep down all Bullies are basic cowards with low feelings of self-worth, who in most cases have to join gangs in order to allow them to exercise control over other people they could never compete with one on one in the real world. When challenged they always back down because they live their lives in fear, fear of having to come to grips with their own inadequacies, By definition all Progressive socialists are Bullies because their weakness forces them to band together in their COLLECTIVES, Unions and Political Parties to bully en mass those individuals who believe in individual rights, freedom and individual accomplishment. Weak minded Liberals must join collectives in order to survive or perish by their own foolishnesses and poor life choices. This is why they MUST redistribute wealth and destroy with their collective bullying the attempts of righteous individuals to make their way in the world unmolested.