Taking things easy...
Sep. 13th, 2004 09:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seandcWell, one day of my week off down... the only thing wrong with trying to wake up on a week off is that my body also knows that I don't *have* to get up, too... an hour and a half later than I'd hoped I finally got underway. My destination: Planet Video, a largish video store in the northern suburbs (well, if the border of Highgate and Mt Lawley counts, but still, further north than Central Tafe means a place may as well be in Osaka ;)). Some scanning of the for-sale section, and a while later I'm walking out with two Beavis and Butt-head tapes (which are now almost impossible to find here), the soundtrack from The Princess Bride hooray! (had toyed with buying this off Amazon if I'd ended up signing up), and just for the curio factor, a disc of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy :lol:
I tried to find the other comic store mentioned in the white pages in Northbridge, but from what I saw of the area the online map said (for all that those work...) no sign. So, back to the normal comic store for me!
In the news tonight, a Dr Michael Carr-Gregg recommended a Royal Commission into bullying and "bullycide" as bullying-induced-suicide is now being called (I only remember the term from a popular article in a recent issue of Practising Administrator on school violence, so might have to see if it gets mentioned in anything like Principal Leadership or Professional School Counseling - assuming I ever get closer than Current Contents to my journals ever again, grrrr). There was footage from a conference or something similar, hearing the stories of victims of bullying and their families. Some stand-out points were the family of a 14-year-old who killed herself on camp; a guy who missed most of year 12 after being bashed, and even normal kids who were talking about being bullied, not outside the 2% deviation it seems society allows before deeming someone sub-human (the Sentinels in the Days of Future Past have got nothing on your average high school). And of course the little bastards behind this all, the bullies themselves, will get away with it all, no matter what "policies" schools say they have. At least theres some signs in recent years that teachers/psychologists/etc are finally getting the idea that perhaps an "apology" is not going to make it all better, and that there is no real shame or guilt in the warped little souls of bullies.
The report ended with the statement that there isn't going to be a Commission, as the various Education Departments want to work on making better policies. I coulda said that before I even saw the report. More talk, leading to no actual change.
I tried to find the other comic store mentioned in the white pages in Northbridge, but from what I saw of the area the online map said (for all that those work...) no sign. So, back to the normal comic store for me!
In the news tonight, a Dr Michael Carr-Gregg recommended a Royal Commission into bullying and "bullycide" as bullying-induced-suicide is now being called (I only remember the term from a popular article in a recent issue of Practising Administrator on school violence, so might have to see if it gets mentioned in anything like Principal Leadership or Professional School Counseling - assuming I ever get closer than Current Contents to my journals ever again, grrrr). There was footage from a conference or something similar, hearing the stories of victims of bullying and their families. Some stand-out points were the family of a 14-year-old who killed herself on camp; a guy who missed most of year 12 after being bashed, and even normal kids who were talking about being bullied, not outside the 2% deviation it seems society allows before deeming someone sub-human (the Sentinels in the Days of Future Past have got nothing on your average high school). And of course the little bastards behind this all, the bullies themselves, will get away with it all, no matter what "policies" schools say they have. At least theres some signs in recent years that teachers/psychologists/etc are finally getting the idea that perhaps an "apology" is not going to make it all better, and that there is no real shame or guilt in the warped little souls of bullies.
The report ended with the statement that there isn't going to be a Commission, as the various Education Departments want to work on making better policies. I coulda said that before I even saw the report. More talk, leading to no actual change.
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no subject
Date: 2004-09-13 07:10 am (UTC)Which one - "Spaced Out"? I bought that one a year or so ago when I stumbled across it in a clearance bin in some shop.
In the news tonight, a Dr Michael Carr-Gregg recommended a Royal Commission into bullying and "bullycide" as bullying-induced-suicide is now being called
It's about freaking time someone started taking bullying more seriously.
At least theres some signs in recent years that teachers/psychologists/etc are finally getting the idea that perhaps an "apology" is not going to make it all better, and that there is no real shame or guilt in the warped little souls of bullies.
"Apology"? Hah! At least, from the sounds of this statement, teachers are a little more on the ball in your area than in mine. When I was in approximately grades 6-9, my teachers stood and watched while I was bullied and only interfered if I fought back, when I was the one who would get in trouble. I even had a principal tell me I was a "bullshit" artist when I complained about being harassed. My own mother said, "You must be doing something to provoke it." It's a wonder I survived.
Here in Canada, we had a case a few years ago of a girl actually being murdered by a group of bullies. There have been a couple of trials now, but they keep appealing, IIRC. I think the latest one might have ended - I haven't seen anything in the papers recently - but I don't recall hearing a verdict yet. I could be wrong, though.
The report ended with the statement that there isn't going to be a Commission, as the various Education Departments want to work on making better policies. I coulda said that before I even saw the report. More talk, leading to no actual change.
Figures. :(
no subject
Date: 2004-09-13 11:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-14 02:46 am (UTC)Yep. It's all "part of growing up", "kids being kids" and all - or talking in the language of the newspaper letters pages "never did me any harm" :rolleyes:
And then there's some teachers like to make things that extra bit difficult, like the PE teacher in my other reply. Or the teacher who gives slightly wrong directions, just right for putting the explosive deputy-head in a bad mood before any explaining can be done. Or the teacher who'll make up stuff just on her pet's say-so (been there, done that... and I had to apologise for something I never did).
no subject
Date: 2004-09-14 02:39 am (UTC)Yep, it's Spaced Out, that's the one - haven't actually listened to it though - saving my new cds for back to work (well, gotta have something to do...)
It's about freaking time someone started taking bullying more seriously.
Yes... or more to the point, actually doing something about it. All the schools have all these wonderful you-beaut statements about how they foster respect, have no tolerance of bullying and all...
"Apology"? Hah! At least, from the sounds of this statement, teachers are a little more on the ball in your area than in mine.
I'm not sure exactly where I read about the newer approaches to behaviour management (part of the gift and the curse of scanning though all the contents pages of the incoming journals - see all this new stuff, but forget where...) just that there was a shift towards actual sanctions, rather than trying to make everything all lovey-dovey again, "oh, here is Thuggo, he's really sorry, aren't you Thuggo? Now we're all friends again" type of stuff from the 90s.
When I was in approximately grades 6-9, my teachers stood and watched while I was bullied and only interfered if I fought back, when I was the one who would get in trouble. I even had a principal tell me I was a "bullshit" artist when I complained about being harassed. My own mother said, "You must be doing something to provoke it." It's a wonder I survived.
As for the way your schooldays went... good gravy! :eek: I didn't have anything that extreme. The whole only the retaliator gets punished, the instigators get off scot-free deal is familiar though. Blame the victim, alive and well. Our own Department's guideline package includes templates for school-level policies, which include worksheets for "what I can do differently", if a situation gets up to official discipline levels - no matter which side of the fence the offender is. So, get suspended for standing up for yourself? Obviously something's wrong with doing so...
My primary school principal said to "just ignore them and they'll stop". Har-de-har-har. And of course, the fun of dealing with teachers who were "one of the boys"... such fun having a PE teacher as year co-ordinator... as I said earlier... Days of Future Past, except in this case everyone was expected to go to a Sentinel for help...
Here in Canada, we had a case a few years ago of a girl actually being murdered by a group of bullies. There have been a couple of trials now, but they keep appealing, IIRC. I think the latest one might have ended - I haven't seen anything in the papers recently - but I don't recall hearing a verdict yet. I could be wrong, though.
I'm not sure if I saw that same case, but I've just been looking into some news stories online... damn. Everything as the cynic in me expects. Kid suicides, school denies bullying despite what students say, but organise "suicide-prevention courses". Yeah, that's really getting to the heart of the matter. Kids shoving *themselves* into lockers as "pranks"... just what I expect to read... throw suspicion everywhere except the school, or the bullies themselves. Or another case where the victim fought back, slashed the bully with a pencil and was subsequently taken to court, and given probation (with a whole bunch of conditions). The bully's mother is all up in arms about how her poor baby should have been safe and all. Too bad for the kid he was bullying...
Figures. :(
Yup.