Is the School Bullying Problem Overstated?

Nick Gillespie argues that bullying isn’t the national crisis it is being made out to be and that American children are actually safer than they’ve ever been.

In the Wall Street Journal, Nick Gillespie of Reason.com and Reason.tv argues that far from being in the midst of a national bullying crisis, childhood in the US is actually safer than it has ever been before. He claims that the raised profile of bullying incidents is the result of increasingly overprotective parents and a media with nothing else left about which they can stir up a moral panic.

As for the rising wave of laws and regulations designed to combat meanness among students, they are likely to lump together minor slights with major offenses. The antibullying movement is already conflating serious cases of gay-bashing and vicious harassment with things like…a kid named Cheese having a tough time in grade school.

This is in response the recent screening of ‘Bully’ and the Cartoon Network special ‘Stop Bullying: Speak Up’. High profile stories such as the recent arrest of a bully after his alleged victim posted her story on reddit have perhaps led to an inflated opinion about the extent and seriousness of most bullying incidents. In addition the phenomenon is fed by a culture increasingly unwilling to put up with any incidence of physical or emotional abuse, and happy to try to legislate to prohibit any such behavior.

Helicopter parents are increasingly involved in their children’s lives and will step-in to tackle any negative things happening to their offspring, rather than letting their children get on with it themselves as happened more often in the past. All of these factors add up to bullying getting a high profile and seeming like more of a problem than it used to be, at a time when physical brutality and meanness in the playground is arguably at its lowest ever watermark.

The article notes that there are many serious cases of bullying occurring still and these shouldn’t be dismissed lightly, as they can lead to the loss of a child’s life. It merely seeks to temper growing hysteria with a little reason.

Mr. Cheese, now a sophomore in high school with hopes of becoming a lawyer, provides a model in dealing with the sort of jerks who will always, unfortunately, be a presence in our schools. At the end of “Stop Bullying,” he tells younger kids, “Just talk to somebody and I promise to you, it’s going to get better.”

Comments

Kevin

April 4, 2012 at 9:21 am

The WSJ article is all conjecture and surmise. Is there any kind of numbers out there to back up the contention that the problem is being blown out of proportion? Is it actually possible to do this, considering that kids ARE killing themselves over it and schools do nothing about it?

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- Mike
  
  April 4, 2012 at 3:08 pm
  
  Yes, it is possible to overdue this, as it is possible to overdue anything. “The article notes that there are many serious cases of bullying occurring still and these shouldn’t be dismissed lightly, as they can lead to the loss of a child’s life. It merely seeks to temper growing hysteria with a little reason.” They are obviously not trying to lessen the seriousness of bullying. However, unless it is the school’s responsibility to make every human on the planet to get along, then people will always run into “bullying”. The difference will be, have we taught students proper coping mechanisms, or not. When you go from a totally protected environment into the real world, are you going to be prepared? If you look you will find where exclusion is bullying. So, not inviting every kid in the school to you birthday party is bullying. Really, thats not over doing it?
  
  Reply
  - Linda Brees
    
    April 6, 2012 at 7:44 am
    
    Why do people find it so objectionable to admit that the best approach to reducing bullying is telling (if needed, with punishment) bullies not to do that. Enough already with the blaming the victim, Mike. Seriously, as advice, it is old, and useless.
    
    (But I am not blaming the victim, you will no doubt complain! By trying to teach “coping mechanisms” you’re placing the responsibility for dealing with the issue on the victim, and not the perpetrator where it belongs.)
    
    Reply
    - Mike
      
      April 11, 2012 at 6:34 am
      
      Linda that is not at all what I’m saying. Yes by all means do tell, I am behind that 100%. Kids won’t do that, but I encourage them to. However, life won’t always be as protected for them as it can be in school. Then what? Coping mechanisms aren’t a replacement for tellying when bullying is actually occuring. But, are you suggesting not getting an invitation to someone’s birthday party is bullying? Because that is what it is called in some cases. And I don’t buy that one bit.
      
      Reply
Joe

April 4, 2012 at 9:22 am

The way the problem is being approached now it’s as if no one has ever been bullied up until the last few years. This has always happened in schools, and it will continue to happen.

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JC

April 5, 2012 at 8:45 am

Forget tougher punishments and hiring more police for schools. The solution to crime and violence is in your lunchroom. http://www.alternet.org/environment/25122/?comments=view&cID=35161&pID=34156 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKr4HZ7ukSE

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- Linda Brees
  
  April 8, 2012 at 9:49 am
  
  Do you read anything besides alternet, JC?
  
  Reply
Shelly

April 27, 2012 at 6:55 pm

I guess my response to this is that my son, who was bullyed and at the hands of this bully , now has over 30k in dental bills. The bully problem is a national tragedy. Either your child is being bullied, your child is bullying someone or your child knows someone who is being bullied.

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