THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This validated so many feelings I have had about this type of training...... I have worked in schools for over 24 yrs and it is getting worse....I never participate in pink shirt day, orange day, etc.....it's too much.....on this last Pink Day, I was wearing a shirt that had different shades of red when a teacher came up to me and said "Where's your pink shirt?" Kids are in the hallway getting ready for the day and heard her say this to me.... I turned around and said, "Are you bullying me on pink shirt day? Isn't this the opposite of what this day is about?" She started to back peddle and apologize when I stopped her and reminded her that this is the problem with us becoming social justice warriors and the reason kids can't read, write or do math and why they continue being bullied.....and walked away....
👏👏👏 I agree with all of this! Our kids have never participated in pink shirt day because I feel that all of this anti-whatever BS does nothing more than attract more of what we don't want (just like the war on drugs, and the war on terror, and anti-hate, etc). The hypocrisy of it all drives me crazy as well...I will never forget when a particular chief medial officer was asked a few years ago how mask mandates would be enforced and his reply was essentially that they would rely on people to bully others into wearing them 🙄 So when our "leaders" basically endorse bullying and then turn around and promote pink shirt day, I'm just not buying it.
Good one. It's just another arrow in the "culture of weakness" quiver.
I was bullied as a kid in junior high and highschool. My parents gave me several ideas on how to fix it. One of them was to try to be friends with the guy. I thought that was weird, but I was willing to give it a go. It didn't work.
The last bit of advice came from my Dad: Go for the nose.
That one worked like charm. Even got a day off school on account of that one. Also, it got me some good notoriety. But the best thing is, it allowed ME to fix the problem.
Much truth in what you've written. In many ways we've created the "snowflake" generation, much to their detriment.
That said, as I tried to clumsily point out recently in an article I wrote on "PInk Shirt" Day, there are kids for whom bullying is an absolute nightmare — these are the sorts of kids I see in the pediatric ED with suicidal ideation or following a suicide attempt; and while bullying is nothing new, and will never be NOT be a part of the messy business of growing up, the explosion of social media has torqued the problem into a rather more malignant issue.
I totally agree that virtue-signaling one day a year with pink garb does nothing to "prepare our kids for the road". None of my kids wore pink that day, most of their classmates did not, and essentially nothing useful was delivered at their schools with respect to intelligently dealing with bullying, either in person or online.
In sum, I agree with most of what you write; but as the old adage goes, we mustn't throw the baby out with the bathwater — there are many kids who suffer terribly at the hands of bullies, with grievous impacts on their lives no matter how tough and resilient they are... and telling them they should just suck it up because it's a rite of childhood isn't a reliable blanket solution.
When there is “real” bullying we keep hearing that we should have sympathy for the bully for many reasons be it their economic situation or race or sexual orientation. Anti-bullying rhetoric is just another way to make more victims this time out of the bullies instead of the bullies taking responsibility for their actions. The real victims are more or less dismissed.
Thanks Chris It won't surprise you to know I completely agree with you and in Southern Ontario that's exactly how we were brought up as "war babies" and proud to be one.Thanks for posting and reminding how things should be (IMHO)
Thank you docs for this article. Today we are enabling and encouraging people to be snowflakes. Most people will be teased or picked on during their lives. That doesn't really fall under the umbrella of bullying. No one likes it. We have all been there. However, as you say you need to get through it. Hopefully without an excess of coddling. However, if it is severe to the point of your life being threatened then I say, help is needed.
I am pleased to see you didn't join in with the wearing of the pink t-shirt craze, all with social issues attached. That is all virtue signalling. I swear these things are used to coerce people into 'going along'. One of our grandchildren was heading to school with the orange shirt on and I said how do you think this is helping? At 10 years old, she wasn't sure. It is nothing more than programming.
Excellent article! I always commend kids who tell me they fought back to stop their bully from harassing them. I never say they shouldn't have fought back, but instead should ignore their bully and seek help from their teachers.
I wonder if there’s an analogy here to how a generation of parents tried to keep their kids from being exposed to “germs” (sterilizing the pacifier if it touches the floor for a second, etc.) and those same kids developing asthma, allergies, etc. Just as our immune systems need to be challenged to work properly, so do our psyches.
As for bullying, there is only one solution - and that is to teach your kids to step up and sort it out. Bullies very quickly learn the lesson and the bullied learn not to take it.
A lot of problems in schools today happen because everyone is a special snowflake and never suffers any repercussions from their own mouths.
It's largely projection. Like you said about anti-racism, etc. The reality is that they are creating the very thing they claim to be fighting against. In other words, bullying is OK so long as your being bullied into doing the thing we think is correct (pink t-shirt day), as in the case of anti-racism (racism is ok so long as we (often the POC) are the ones doing it).
For me, I've reached the point where when I hear someone put "anti" in front of anything, I just assume their going to do the very thing they are claiming to be against. Anti-racists are racist, anti-bullies are bullies, etc etc.
I think there's another angle to this too, that being the rise of the managerial state. Every aspect of our lives is becoming managed. It's unsustainable and will only lead to destruction.
THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This validated so many feelings I have had about this type of training...... I have worked in schools for over 24 yrs and it is getting worse....I never participate in pink shirt day, orange day, etc.....it's too much.....on this last Pink Day, I was wearing a shirt that had different shades of red when a teacher came up to me and said "Where's your pink shirt?" Kids are in the hallway getting ready for the day and heard her say this to me.... I turned around and said, "Are you bullying me on pink shirt day? Isn't this the opposite of what this day is about?" She started to back peddle and apologize when I stopped her and reminded her that this is the problem with us becoming social justice warriors and the reason kids can't read, write or do math and why they continue being bullied.....and walked away....
👏👏👏 I agree with all of this! Our kids have never participated in pink shirt day because I feel that all of this anti-whatever BS does nothing more than attract more of what we don't want (just like the war on drugs, and the war on terror, and anti-hate, etc). The hypocrisy of it all drives me crazy as well...I will never forget when a particular chief medial officer was asked a few years ago how mask mandates would be enforced and his reply was essentially that they would rely on people to bully others into wearing them 🙄 So when our "leaders" basically endorse bullying and then turn around and promote pink shirt day, I'm just not buying it.
Good one. It's just another arrow in the "culture of weakness" quiver.
I was bullied as a kid in junior high and highschool. My parents gave me several ideas on how to fix it. One of them was to try to be friends with the guy. I thought that was weird, but I was willing to give it a go. It didn't work.
The last bit of advice came from my Dad: Go for the nose.
That one worked like charm. Even got a day off school on account of that one. Also, it got me some good notoriety. But the best thing is, it allowed ME to fix the problem.
Much truth in what you've written. In many ways we've created the "snowflake" generation, much to their detriment.
That said, as I tried to clumsily point out recently in an article I wrote on "PInk Shirt" Day, there are kids for whom bullying is an absolute nightmare — these are the sorts of kids I see in the pediatric ED with suicidal ideation or following a suicide attempt; and while bullying is nothing new, and will never be NOT be a part of the messy business of growing up, the explosion of social media has torqued the problem into a rather more malignant issue.
I totally agree that virtue-signaling one day a year with pink garb does nothing to "prepare our kids for the road". None of my kids wore pink that day, most of their classmates did not, and essentially nothing useful was delivered at their schools with respect to intelligently dealing with bullying, either in person or online.
In sum, I agree with most of what you write; but as the old adage goes, we mustn't throw the baby out with the bathwater — there are many kids who suffer terribly at the hands of bullies, with grievous impacts on their lives no matter how tough and resilient they are... and telling them they should just suck it up because it's a rite of childhood isn't a reliable blanket solution.
When there is “real” bullying we keep hearing that we should have sympathy for the bully for many reasons be it their economic situation or race or sexual orientation. Anti-bullying rhetoric is just another way to make more victims this time out of the bullies instead of the bullies taking responsibility for their actions. The real victims are more or less dismissed.
Thanks Chris It won't surprise you to know I completely agree with you and in Southern Ontario that's exactly how we were brought up as "war babies" and proud to be one.Thanks for posting and reminding how things should be (IMHO)
Thank you docs for this article. Today we are enabling and encouraging people to be snowflakes. Most people will be teased or picked on during their lives. That doesn't really fall under the umbrella of bullying. No one likes it. We have all been there. However, as you say you need to get through it. Hopefully without an excess of coddling. However, if it is severe to the point of your life being threatened then I say, help is needed.
I am pleased to see you didn't join in with the wearing of the pink t-shirt craze, all with social issues attached. That is all virtue signalling. I swear these things are used to coerce people into 'going along'. One of our grandchildren was heading to school with the orange shirt on and I said how do you think this is helping? At 10 years old, she wasn't sure. It is nothing more than programming.
Excellent article! I always commend kids who tell me they fought back to stop their bully from harassing them. I never say they shouldn't have fought back, but instead should ignore their bully and seek help from their teachers.
I wonder if there’s an analogy here to how a generation of parents tried to keep their kids from being exposed to “germs” (sterilizing the pacifier if it touches the floor for a second, etc.) and those same kids developing asthma, allergies, etc. Just as our immune systems need to be challenged to work properly, so do our psyches.
I didn't realize you went to CJ81 as well.
As for bullying, there is only one solution - and that is to teach your kids to step up and sort it out. Bullies very quickly learn the lesson and the bullied learn not to take it.
A lot of problems in schools today happen because everyone is a special snowflake and never suffers any repercussions from their own mouths.
It's largely projection. Like you said about anti-racism, etc. The reality is that they are creating the very thing they claim to be fighting against. In other words, bullying is OK so long as your being bullied into doing the thing we think is correct (pink t-shirt day), as in the case of anti-racism (racism is ok so long as we (often the POC) are the ones doing it).
For me, I've reached the point where when I hear someone put "anti" in front of anything, I just assume their going to do the very thing they are claiming to be against. Anti-racists are racist, anti-bullies are bullies, etc etc.
I think there's another angle to this too, that being the rise of the managerial state. Every aspect of our lives is becoming managed. It's unsustainable and will only lead to destruction.