Pink shirts may raise awareness....

...but they sure ain't gonna solve the problem.

 

Here is a conversation that happened recently on good old Facebook. I've no idea why I continue using this social media website because it usually just succeeds in pissing me off. A very good friend of mine posted the following:

 

"Breaks my heart to hear that kids at school are being mean and don't include other kids when they play. I have one sad little girl tonight :("

 

Most of the responses were your typical "poor little girl", "kids are so mean", etc... My response was this:

 

"Consider it a valuable life lesson for her... it sucks but unfortunately it is a lesson that has to be learned. I always tell mine to play with other kids. She has discovered that boys are way nicer than girls though."

 

A few responses followed:

 

"It's a lesson that no one should have to learn. As you know S******. We have always taught the girls no one gets left behind and everyone is included. We have to be leaders for our kids."

 

You are right but, unfortunately, kids are jerks, all of them. I'm sure every kid has or will be on the other side of this (the bully). These experiences will make her a better, more tolerant human who doesn't expect everything to just go her way and the friends that she does make and keep will be of better quality than the little assholes that are being mean right now.

 

"I agree with you J****. Being bullied should not have to be a lesson learned and it is far from being valuable. Try detrimental! Not succeeding or failing at something maybe has to be learned, but bullying, no way! Bloody kids need to be taken control of...."

 

Bullying is not a new thing, we are just more aware of it now due to the constant media coverage (a good thing as it promotes awareness). Kids are bullies; it is a normal thing as they try to find their place in this world. Kids act mostly on instinct as they haven't learned how to control themselves yet and their instinct says "eat or be eaten." We all know that survival of the fittest and natural selection exist so I don't understand why we act so shocked when kids are picked on at the playground. In fact, bullying and exclusionary behaviour continue right into adulthood: bar fights, exclusive clubs, professional sports. Kids need to learn that life isn't always going to be all inclusive.

 

And then I was attacked by some moron who doesn't even have kids!

 

"I was bullied so bad I was homeschooled. No kid should EVER have to learn this - what a fucking bullshit statement. U tell that to your daughter when she starves herself to 90 lbs and puked up her food and is still emotionally scarred and bitter ....

 

And PS bullying is way worse with social media - I am terrified for victims in this world.... Social media is the worst thing that has eve happened to kids. It allows bad kids to be worse ....

 

I am so pissed off now with some of the ignorant comments in this thread - I would type

more but I'm on an iPhone."

 

And another....

 

"bullying may not be a new phenominon, but it is most certainly far worse than it has ever been. Particularly due to social media. You are kidding yourself if you believe it's always been like this. Kids didn't starve themselves and cut themselves to the extent they do today! S*****, you are contradicting yourself by saying you don't defend bullying, then going off and saying it happens. YOU are part of the problem. When you say things like "it's normal", you're saying it's ok and that's ALL that kids will hear."

 

Poor grammar and spelling aside.... Are you fucking kidding me?

 

I am so tired, no exhausted, with all of this bullying crap. Do we really think self-mutilation, anorexia/bulimia, suicide, etc...was not happening before social media? Fuck, do we really think this stuff wasn't around in previous decades? Hasn't anybody read Lord of the Flies, The Outsiders or, if we want to go really far back, Twelfth Night or everybody’s favourite, the bible?

It's a fact of life and the sooner we teach our children to deal with it, the better. I'm not saying it's right but let's be realistic and admit it's never going to fucking stop and in fact, it will only get worse with social media, etc... If parents would learn how to police their children instead of leaving them to rot in front of computers and televisions then maybe this wouldn't be such an issue.

 

You think I didn't have any fucking issues as a child? Look at how fucking bitter and angry I am, do you honestly think I was born that way? I wasn't. My parents didn't give two shits and while I may not have been starving myself to death, I was doing other harmful things to myself to "fit in". I'm teaching my kid to deal with it as it arises and to know that I am not always going to be there to fight her battles. I am not ignorant to this concept, far from it but I refuse to raise a child that cannot handle the trials of life. You think a bunch of kids, bullies included, wearing pink shirts are going to fix the issue? HA! Get fucking real. IT HAPPENS...teach your children how to handle it.