Cyber-Bullying's Darker Twin
An emotionally charged, nostalgic shit storm hit me this week. It all started with this video ...
From what I understand (via the grapevine, mind you), the dark haired girl on the left got upset over a rumour doing the rounds about her alleged teen pregnancy (which is still quite the scandal in the Afrikaans community whenever it happens, so I can understand her being offended by it) & she believed that the dark haired girl on the right was spreading this rumour.
I found myself becoming more enraged with the shock exclaimed over the video online than with the two bullies! Here's what set me off:
I guess cyber-bullying is relatively young, but this type of physical attack/bullying was happening almost daily whilst I was still in school during the 1980's & 1990's. On & off the 'playgrounds'. I find it extremely unsettling that people act as if this never before happened to anyone else in the past, like it's a new phenomenon and a matter of "where is our country's schools going to". How must we feel? Like the physical bullying never really happened to us back then? I'm 100% sure that - if we had digital cameras/cell phones & social media, the various altercations would also have been recorded & posted online. In a heartbeat.
What people should be shocked at is the obvious fact that parents still aren't teaching their children better ways to resolve conflict. What happened to getting the facts straight before letting your temper fly? And was there really no other (better) way to deal with the gossip? Seems like children are still being trapped in the vicious cycle of repetition, dealing the same way with those around them as their parents probably do. Such gangster mentality of violence breeding violence & aggression earning respect.
Having said all of that, I am very appalled at the fact that there were no teacher present. Based on what I've learnt being the BFF of a teacher (as well as the daughter of one), is that schools' policies stipulate that children are rarely to be left to their own devices during school hours. Normally, there must be at least one teacher (or in a high school set up, maybe a school prefect) on duty during break times. Where was he/she? Holding the fucking camera?
From what I understand (via the grapevine, mind you), the dark haired girl on the left got upset over a rumour doing the rounds about her alleged teen pregnancy (which is still quite the scandal in the Afrikaans community whenever it happens, so I can understand her being offended by it) & she believed that the dark haired girl on the right was spreading this rumour.
I found myself becoming more enraged with the shock exclaimed over the video online than with the two bullies! Here's what set me off:
I guess cyber-bullying is relatively young, but this type of physical attack/bullying was happening almost daily whilst I was still in school during the 1980's & 1990's. On & off the 'playgrounds'. I find it extremely unsettling that people act as if this never before happened to anyone else in the past, like it's a new phenomenon and a matter of "where is our country's schools going to". How must we feel? Like the physical bullying never really happened to us back then? I'm 100% sure that - if we had digital cameras/cell phones & social media, the various altercations would also have been recorded & posted online. In a heartbeat.
What people should be shocked at is the obvious fact that parents still aren't teaching their children better ways to resolve conflict. What happened to getting the facts straight before letting your temper fly? And was there really no other (better) way to deal with the gossip? Seems like children are still being trapped in the vicious cycle of repetition, dealing the same way with those around them as their parents probably do. Such gangster mentality of violence breeding violence & aggression earning respect.
Having said all of that, I am very appalled at the fact that there were no teacher present. Based on what I've learnt being the BFF of a teacher (as well as the daughter of one), is that schools' policies stipulate that children are rarely to be left to their own devices during school hours. Normally, there must be at least one teacher (or in a high school set up, maybe a school prefect) on duty during break times. Where was he/she? Holding the fucking camera?
Comments
Post a Comment