"Jenni Greenwald, please commit suicide." In 1986, John Cook and some fellow eighth grade boys wrote an underground newspaper filled with bullying and racism, targeting other students and teachers in their school. He reflects on this, getting in touch with both his co-authors and victims, in
Confessions of a Teenage Word Bully.
posted by Chanther
on Jan 6, 2013 -
84 comments
Ariel Meadow Stallings (creator of Offbeat Mama and Offbeat Bride) on
liberal bullying: "...what's the biggest challenge we deal with every day? The challenge that has my editors second-guessing every post and quaking in fear, just waiting for the awfulness to begin? It's attacks from our fellow progressives... Increasingly, I've started recognizing this kind of behavior for what it is: privilege-checking as a form of internet sport. It's a kind of trolling, with all the politics I agree with, but motivations and execution that turns my stomach. It's well-intended (
SO well-intended), but when the motivations seem to be less about opening dialogue about the issues, and more about performance, righteousness, and intolerance for those who don't agree with you… well, I'm not on-board."
[more inside]
posted by flex
on Dec 2, 2012 -
180 comments
In 2010,
1st grader Katie Goldman was the bullied kid at her school for being a girl who was into Star Wars (which is, of course, only for boys).
Geeks and fans across the net rallied to give moral support to Katie ("
The Littlest Jedi") for standing up for who she wanted to be.
Katie and her mother went on to lead an anti-bullying effort at Katie's school (which now observes December 10th as "Proud To Be Me Day") and Katie became a
symbol of
geek pride and anti-bullying, standing up at a birthday party for a boy who wanted to have his nails painted like the girls were getting. The experience became the source of book
Bullied. In 2012, it was Katie's turn to show geek solidarity. The
501st Legion/"Vader's Fist", who had been so supportive when her story went viral, were now among those
being taunted online for their cosplay geekery at a con, and Katie wanted to be a stormtrooper for Halloween to show her support. When the troopers heard that, the 501st's
First Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment came together to raise the funds/materials/expertise and
build a full-on custom-fitted set of proper stormtrooper armor ('77 movie specs and all), with just days to spare before Halloween, as a gift for the little girl whose courage inspired them so much.
[more inside]
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey
on Nov 2, 2012 -
61 comments
In 1970, Robin Tomlin opened his Argyle Secondary School yearbook to his graduation picture. Next to his picture, instead of the quote he had submitted about his future plans, there was one word: "FAG."
The classmates who had tormented him with homophobic bullying for years had managed to get their final shot immortalized in print. After Tomlin's daughter
found her father's yearbook in 1999 and broke down in tears over the bullying her father had experienced, Tomlin asked the North Vancouver school district to apologize and replace the original yearbook copies still held in the Argyle school library. Frustrated by a lack of response, Tomlin shared his story on an alumni message board and a lawyer offered to represent Tomlin pro bono. The school district originally balked, stating its "regret" over what had happened but declining to offer an apology. After a
recent suicide of a bullied BC student and increased public pressure, yesterday Tomlin finally
received an apology from the school district and a new yearbook with the slur
replaced by the inscription he had wanted all along. Tomlin, who has terminal liver disease,
said "now he can put behind him the slur that has bothered him his entire adult life....Tomlin also said he hopes the apology will give other victims of bullying hope."
posted by hurdy gurdy girl
on Oct 23, 2012 -
69 comments
Comedians are using their fans for co-ordinated safety in numbers bullying. Simon Pegg, Ricky Gervais and Noel Fielding [...] have used their combined follower count of just under 6 million to bully people – Gervais in particular does so repeatedly – and I’m sick of the fact that they’re not called to account for it. You will have heard plenty about “trolls and haters” in the wider media, but very little about celebrities endorsing and directing this behaviour.
posted by zoo
on Sep 6, 2012 -
137 comments
These kids from Chapel Hill, N.C. rap against bullying. They give and want
RESPECT in return. They advise kids to
BREATHE and take a break before resorting to violence.
posted by snsranch
on Aug 26, 2012 -
5 comments
Bullying & Goodreads: "Little more than a week ago, a website aimed at naming and shaming so-called
Goodreads [A kind of facebook for bibliophiles.] ‘bullies’ suddenly appeared online – called, appropriately enough,
Stop the GR Bullies. Run by four concerned ‘
readers and bloggers’ writing anonymously under the handles Athena, Peter Pan, Johnny Be Good and Stitch, the site thus far seems bent on punishing the creators of snide, snarky and negative book reviews by posting their handles, real names, locations and photos in one place, together with a warning about their supposed ‘level of toxicity’ and some (ironically) snide, snarky and negative commentary about them as people. There’s a lot here to unpack, but before I get started on why this is a horrifically bad idea, let’s start with some basic context."
posted by Fizz
on Jul 11, 2012 -
178 comments
Guidelines [
pdf] recently published by a coalition of religious liberty and free speech organizations caution educators against violating student rights when trying to enforce anti-bullying policies. Other groups, however, worry that concern for free speech rights may keep educators from effectively addressing bullying.
[more inside]
posted by audi alteram partem
on May 29, 2012 -
66 comments
Long-time bullying victim finally snaps: a video of an incident at a Sydney High School has gone viral over the internet three days prior to Australia's
National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence. Police and bullying experts are concerned about the level of online support that the fed-up victim's actions have received after the video, filmed by his miscalculating tormentors, was posted to Youtube (since removed and reposted multiple times). The 16 year-old has been suspended from school, but already has an
online tribute to his actions and thousands of Facebook supporters.
posted by moorooka
on Mar 15, 2011 -
728 comments
Ken Rex McElroy for years had terrorized the small town of Skidmore Missouri, and was considered the town bully. He had been charged with more than 20 felonies, robbing, raping, burning, shootings. He intimidated people by driving by at night and firing a shotgun blast, putting a rattlesnake in their mailbox, etc. He was murdered on July 10, 1981. No one in town would identify Ken Rex's killer and no one has ever been
charged with his killing, though there has been
intense speculation about who did it. There have been various
dramatic depictions of the crime. Is vigilante justice ever
justified?
posted by Xurando
on Dec 16, 2010 -
148 comments
Want to know what your old high school is doing to protect and support its LGBTQ students?
Write Your Principal encourages and collects correspondence about anti-bullying efforts between alumni and their alma maters. [via
projects]
posted by lalex
on Oct 18, 2010 -
17 comments
What Really Happened to Phoebe Prince? Six teens remained charged--
down from the original nine--in the death of Phoebe Prince, who committed suicide after
bullying at school. Legal writer Emily Bazelon of Slate.com continues her investigation of the case with a new three part series:
I've wrestled with how much of this information to publish. Phoebe's family has suffered terribly. But when the D.A. charged kids with causing Phoebe's death and threatened them with prison, she invited an inquiry into other potential causes. The whole story is a lot more complicated than anyone has publicly allowed for. [more inside]
posted by availablelight
on Jul 20, 2010 -
103 comments
