PhQnix
Thursday 29th January 2009 8:05pm [Edited]
7,015 posts
I have been on both sides of this divide. I have been bullied and engaged in my fair share of over the top teasing in return. I'm not sure if I'd ever pin myself as a bully, I never set out to maliciously hurt a single person. I am, however, aware that my sense of humour strays to the point where what I say is meant jokily but is just offensive. I would never wish harm on someone, but I know I've said some terrible things.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that there's always two sides to these stories, no one is malicious without reason. I know why I've developed in the way I have, it's a simple defence mechanism - I've earned myself a reputation for being incredibly mean. It's a trade off, I haven't been the subject of consistent ridicule for many years but my classmates think I'm evil.
The age-old adage that bullies are essentially low in self-esteem is true. I always have a degree of sympathy for people on either side of the divide. I don't tend to blame the individuals, rather a schooling system which thrives upon the competitive nature of children and fails to tackle bullying both symptomatically and in it's underlying causes. I don't buy that teachers can ever be unaware of bullying in their classrooms, throughout my school life I could've told you who was bullying who. The best thing that ever happened to me when I was being bullied was a teacher interceding on my behalf and asking me what was going on and talking me through it.
