Mark Wilde wrote: > I did see the tape and I will also say "boys will be > boys." Nothing I saw in that story would lead me to > believe there is a problem on public school > playgrounds. > > I think Channel 5 should be ashamed for creating an > issue, but I can't blame them. I am sure they > invested a lot of time and talent on researching the > story and felt like they had to come up with something > to put on the air. > > Those kids were rough to be sure, but even on the > Channel 5 story, there was almost always an adult > close by who broke it up. In my mind, it is a > non-issue.
What happens when they're out of school and there's no adult around? The tape may be non-issue (I haven't seen it), but bullying in the schools is certainly not and I think that there is sufficient creditable research to show that. On a personal note, I don't understand how anyone can fail to empathize with a child who is repeatedly pushed to the ground by a crowd of children. I went though my own bullying experience in high school in the era of Love and Peace. It was only after a couple of years, when my commitment to good will ended with a willingness to respond violently that the bullying ended. I suppose this was a good lesson for life-long-learning, but for some children this is a lesson in mortality. It's certainly something that is within the power of the schools to limit and control. I think there's a lot of denial and cognitive dissidence associated with this subject. To me the most horrific part of this story is Eleanor Coleman's interview. Bureaucratic indifference can be a pretty scary thing at times and it amounts to it's own kind of bullying with pretty much the same type of intrapersonal dynamics. Michael Atherton Prospect Park REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
