A Theory on Popularity/Bully-ism

[Genivaria]

The only thing that my time in public school gave me was: contempt for idiotic bureaucrats who screw around with the school's policies, a great respect for the few teachers who actually still give a damn about the students, and a homicidal hatred for bullies.

I've had at least 3 friends who almost killed themselves because of constant bullying.
I myself was a victim of bullying and was physically assaulted several times, whenever I defended myself I was always the one punished.
The school system does NOTHING to help these students.

[Moving Forward Inc]

Being fabulously wealthy is not exactly the same as being the entrepreneur type who thanks to some major change in the markets becomes ultra rich.

And those types of people are, quite literally, one in a million - for every Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg there are tens of thousands of nameless, intelligent 'entrepreneurs' who live out their lives in relative obscurity. Again, the myth of the 'pull yourself up by your bootstraps' ideal is just that - a myth. One that you, as a child of privilege, have swallowed.

I've seen that happen. Peter Jackson is a famous director in New Zealand who has had a lot of success. What the people don't know is that I know the guy who was willing to take a risk in investing money in his first film when no one else was, thanks to this investment in the future making several millions of dollars. The funny thing is, the person who created the legacy was not the legacy himself, but some investor no one knows that is never seen in public and rather lives an obscure life in his mansion. That's exactly what I mean by successful entrepreneurs - Not Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates, but the people who invested large amounts in them. Yes, buying some shares may not be hard work, and at the start it might not seem to be a wise decision, but in the end in turns out to be a wise decision because they played with their luck at the right time.

[Kohlastan]

I nearly ran away from home in High School, I even know some people that tried to end their lives. The teenage years are often the hardest, as you are forced to change in a short space of time into an adult. Most people at that age aren't aware of what they are doing to each other (and the real implications of bullying) till they are in University/College*.

*Though bullying doesn't end in education, and continues into the workplace.

I hated high school, humiliating environment, not by the students they didn't fuck with me, but the school administration's policies and the aura of resentment that came with it

And I think that's where a major part of the proplem is. Schools try to pretend like bullying is a nonissue and try to disassociate themselves from it. For instance I was bullyed in grade school and told a teacher who told part of the administration and that's as far as it went. Often schools don't want to get involved for some leagal bs. And because the social awkward or different are the most often targeted people blame them for being diffrent, thusly compounding the problem

[Moving Forward Inc]

It's why entrepreneurs are valued so much. It's really really hard to do.

Indeed. And even talented individuals like Zuckerberg and Jobs were themselves benefitted by a great deal of privilege; both were raised in upper to upper-middle class homes with plenty of opportunity for education and exploration.

Thank he who doesn't exist for the upper class.

[Pendragonia]

The whole "Bullying builds character" thing is little more than thinly veiled social darwinism.

That may be true, but from my own experience, my character was built up from being bullied, if only in the form of emotional scaring.

The only thing that my time in public school gave me was: contempt for idiotic bureaucrats who screw around with the school's policies, a great respect for the few teachers who actually still give a damn about the students, and a homicidal hatred for bullies.

I've had at least 3 friends who almost killed themselves because of constant bullying.
I myself was a victim of bullying and was physically assaulted several times, whenever I defended myself I was always the one punished.
The school system does NOTHING to help these students.

[Cannot think of a name]

And those types of people are, quite literally, one in a million - for every Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg there are tens of thousands of nameless, intelligent 'entrepreneurs' who live out their lives in relative obscurity. Again, the myth of the 'pull yourself up by your bootstraps' ideal is just that - a myth. One that you, as a child of privilege, have swallowed.

I've seen that happen. Peter Jackson is a famous director in New Zealand who has had a lot of success. What the people don't know is that I know the guy who was willing to take a risk in investing money in his first film when no one else was, thanks to this investment in the future making several millions of dollars. The funny thing is, the person who created the legacy was not the legacy himself, but some investor no one knows that is never seen in public and rather lives an obscure life in his mansion. That's exactly what I mean by successful entrepreneurs - Not Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates, but the people who invested large amounts in them. Yes, buying some shares may not be hard work, and at the start it might not seem to be a wise decision, but in the end in turns out to be a wise decision because they played with their luck at the right time.

So...what you're saying is that we don't need to be entrepreneurial geniuses...we just need the spare capital to invest in a movie or other venture...

Why, that's so simple anyone (with a large amount of investment capital and the luck to run across someone with talent or genius) can do it!

[Swith Witherward]

Seeing on how I'm almost finished with my schooling for awhile, I though I would reflect on my time in a PUBLIC SCHOOLING SYSTEM!~

Upon my recollection and contemplation, I devised up a little theory I would like to share with you all. Note, I'm not using this for everyone, seeing on how outside influences are a factor, etc etc - but here it goes anyways.

I basically thought that, the more popular you were in school, or the less you were bullied - the more egotistical or baby-ish you were. While the generally low popular kids were bullied a lot more and weren't invited to big parties and shiz, were usually the ones with more common sense.

My basis is that the ones who were bullied could pick out certain behaviors and acts the bullies did and apply it to themselves, by basically in the subconscious "I better not act like those jackasses." Of course, you may have the whole Columbine High School massacre with the ones who were berated, but that's a rare occurrence.. hopefully.

Generally the children who were more often berated in school by other kids generally learned how to function better as a human in real life because of being "taught" how to not act like a total ass.

What are your thoughts?

Edit: Not saying that this is a "We should encourage bullying" or a "Bullies will be homeless while I'm a CEO."

Bullies learn their behavior; for some, it is the environment in which they are raised while others learn it from larger bullies when they are still much younger.

Bullying doesn't fortify a person, nor does it give them better resolve. Children who were most often berated... humiliated, tormented... in school by other kids generally remember the experience. They do not function better. It damages their self-esteem... which is why some kids take their own lives while others become antisocial.

Being bullied can seriously affect a child's physical and mental health. This can include:

feeling sad and lonely
lacking confidence and feeling bad about themselves
becoming depressed
complaining of various physical symptoms e.g. headaches, stomach aches
worrying and trying to avoid going to school

These problems can carry on long after the bullying has stopped. Source

Some of the people who function better as a human in real life are the ones who witnessed the bullying but were not the targets. They saw how cruel people can be and had the determination to not become total assholes towards others. Common sense has nothing to do with it... unless you count that sinking feeling someone has when they sense they are about to be beaten with fists or words.

[Moving Forward Inc]

I've seen that happen. Peter Jackson is a famous director in New Zealand who has had a lot of success. What the people don't know is that I know the guy who was willing to take a risk in investing money in his first film when no one else was, thanks to this investment in the future making several millions of dollars. The funny thing is, the person who created the legacy was not the legacy himself, but some investor no one knows that is never seen in public and rather lives an obscure life in his mansion. That's exactly what I mean by successful entrepreneurs - Not Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates, but the people who invested large amounts in them. Yes, buying some shares may not be hard work, and at the start it might not seem to be a wise decision, but in the end in turns out to be a wise decision because they played with their luck at the right time.

So...what you're saying is that we don't need to be entrepreneurial geniuses...we just need the spare capital to invest in a movie or other venture...

Why, that's so simple anyone (with a large amount of investment capital and the luck to run across someone with talent or genius) can do it!

But if you make the wrong choice you lose your investment. Good money gone.
And to invest money in something, you need an entrepreneurial genius person to invest the money.
The point I was making is that the investors benefit more from the project than the entrepreneurs who have to work hard for their massive project.

[Spritalia]

My own experience into bullying wasn't that bad, I got some good insight on how NOT to act.

Though there are tons of teenagers who can't take it. Maybe it has to do with how you were brought up?

Edit: Either way, bullying isn't an all-around good thing.

[Kohlastan]

The only thing that my time in public school gave me was: contempt for idiotic bureaucrats who screw around with the school's policies, a great respect for the few teachers who actually still give a damn about the students, and a homicidal hatred for bullies.

I've had at least 3 friends who almost killed themselves because of constant bullying.
I myself was a victim of bullying and was physically assaulted several times, whenever I defended myself I was always the one punished.
The school system does NOTHING to help these students.

I feel your pain the samething happen to me, minus the 3 friends

[Sociobiology]

The only thing that my time in public school gave me was: contempt for idiotic bureaucrats who screw around with the school's policies, a great respect for the few teachers who actually still give a damn about the students, and a homicidal hatred for bullies.

I've had at least 3 friends who almost killed themselves because of constant bullying.
I myself was a victim of bullying and was physically assaulted several times, whenever I defended myself I was always the one punished.
The school system does NOTHING to help these students.

the schools systems are generally incapable of doing anything, class sizes are too large for teachers to keep track of students behavior other than the 50 minute window they are physically in the class. teachers are being sued left and right so now the school systems tell them they have to use zero tolerance policy which punishes everyone, but would actually help if it was actually used, instead we get who ever the teacher saw gets punished because the teachers are told to use the policy without it being explained to them.
cut class sizes and implement a zero tolerance policy with actual reminders to why a zero tolerance policy is being used, because teachers do not see everything and the alternative is cameras everywhere in the schools.

all that being said violence is dropping like a stone in schools they call pushing a name calling bullying, when I was a kid bullies broke your bones or hospitalized you.
the violence rates in schools are so low now that if you compare them to schools 80yrs ago the modern schools look like utopias.

[New Rogernomics]

The only thing that my time in public school gave me was: contempt for idiotic bureaucrats who screw around with the school's policies, a great respect for the few teachers who actually still give a damn about the students, and a homicidal hatred for bullies.

I've had at least 3 friends who almost killed themselves because of constant bullying.
I myself was a victim of bullying and was physically assaulted several times, whenever I defended myself I was always the one punished.
The school system does NOTHING to help these students.

Here the quality of the public school is determined by the wealth of the area, mine was okay. But I think if I have kids I will send them to a private school.

[Genivaria]

The only thing that my time in public school gave me was: contempt for idiotic bureaucrats who screw around with the school's policies, a great respect for the few teachers who actually still give a damn about the students, and a homicidal hatred for bullies.

I've had at least 3 friends who almost killed themselves because of constant bullying.
I myself was a victim of bullying and was physically assaulted several times, whenever I defended myself I was always the one punished.
The school system does NOTHING to help these students.

Here the quality of the public school is determined by the wealth of the area, mine was okay. But I think if I have kids I will send them to a private school.

Thats how the system works.
The amount of funding a district gets depends upon test scores, and districts with less funding are going to have larger classrooms with less teachers meaning lower scores.
And so we have an endless downward spiral.

[Seperates]

The only thing that my time in public school gave me was: contempt for idiotic bureaucrats who screw around with the school's policies, a great respect for the few teachers who actually still give a damn about the students, and a homicidal hatred for bullies.

I've had at least 3 friends who almost killed themselves because of constant bullying.
I myself was a victim of bullying and was physically assaulted several times, whenever I defended myself I was always the one punished.
The school system does NOTHING to help these students.

Here the quality of the public school is determined by the wealth of the area, mine was okay. But I think if I have kids I will send them to a private school.

Indeed... because for the most part it's mostly derived from district/local property taxes.

Which comes to the real issue... people need to stop caring so much that their money directly comes back to them. What we should have is nationally standardized funding, so that all schools are more or less the same. Some may cry indoctrination. I disagree. Those who excel in any schooling situation, will still excel and outperform the others, regardless of the situation. However, what it will help prevent is slackers who slip through the cracks of private school and end up wasting money on college. And maybe, just maybe, it will also help those who struggle due to situational problems in many public schools.

[The United Soviet Socialist Republic]

The only thing that my time in public school gave me was: contempt for idiotic bureaucrats who screw around with the school's policies, a great respect for the few teachers who actually still give a damn about the students, and a homicidal hatred for bullies.

I've had at least 3 friends who almost killed themselves because of constant bullying.
I myself was a victim of bullying and was physically assaulted several times, whenever I defended myself I was always the one punished.
The school system does NOTHING to help these students.

That happened to me, exept for the friends nearly killing themselves. Thats why I resorted to homeschooling after the 5th grade.

[The Greater Aryan Race]

The only thing that my time in public school gave me was: contempt for idiotic bureaucrats who screw around with the school's policies, a great respect for the few teachers who actually still give a damn about the students, and a homicidal hatred for bullies.

I've had at least 3 friends who almost killed themselves because of constant bullying.
I myself was a victim of bullying and was physically assaulted several times, whenever I defended myself I was always the one punished.
The school system does NOTHING to help these students.

Absolutely spot-on.

And yes, my old school was utterly useless at dealing with these kind of problems. The fact that I, being a Prefect, was being targeted didn't seem to convince them to toughen up their rules on bullying. Most of the teachers did nothing (except for some who ineffectually told the bullies to stop torturing me) and the Principal was a good-for-nothing swine who, when I spoke to him about the problem, seemed to act as if I was the one to blame.

[Winland]

I was nerdy and awkward all through high school, never had more than 3 or 4 friends at a time.
WHY HAVE I NEVER BEEN BULLIED?!

I was VERY bulliable! was I not good enough for them?

[The Greater Aryan Race]

I was nerdy and awkward all through high school, never had more than 3 or 4 friends at a time.
WHY HAVE I NEVER BEEN BULLIED?!

I was VERY bulliable! was I not good enough for them?

Trust me, once it starts, it never stops. You'll start regretting you wished for it.

[Esternial]

Being bullied and being the bully both have advantages and disadvantages later in life, depending on how you deal with that.

[Immoren]

People who think solidarity should be obligatory are these people who think the world would be a better place if people were forced to associate and work together.
That's what public education is. You get forced to live and work with other students.

Teaches you that you can't necessarily choose those who you work with when you are adult and have job.

[Forsher]

I think homeschooling is a much better idea than public schools, studying alone means no bullying which can cause emotional problems.

Getting bullied can also distract students from their study.
I hate the schooling system we have now also because children are put in classrooms based on age, not skill. It is impossible for one to rise above their peers. Homeschooling would fix this problem.

There's a good reason for this. A school has other considerations beyond the academic. Often those at are merely better aren't suitable higher up and really slot in Year Four and a Half, for example.

[Winland]

I was nerdy and awkward all through high school, never had more than 3 or 4 friends at a time.
WHY HAVE I NEVER BEEN BULLIED?!

I was VERY bulliable! was I not good enough for them?

Trust me, once it starts, it never stops. You'll start regretting you wished for it.

They will be the ones regretting the day they messed with a level 19 Anti-Paladin!

[The Greater Aryan Race]

Trust me, once it starts, it never stops. You'll start regretting you wished for it.

They will be the ones regretting the day they messed with a level 19 Anti-Paladin!

Damn, wished I had a level 19 Anti-Paladin to back me up....

[The USOT]

You know business is a social interaction, right? I mean, it requires interacting with people and all that good stuff?

Of course, voluntary association and that sort of thing. But an intelligent businessman knows that your moneymaking potential is more important than your charisma. It's gotta be bad luck for businessmen that think the other way around.

As a general rule I would funnily enough consider yourself incompetent if you came to work for me.

1) Socialising is not a habit of the incompetent. It is healthy. Not only does socialising build life skills which are essential in most lines of work (e.g. effective communication abilities and employee comradeship) but is actually needed to keep you both mentally and physically fit due to our nature as social primates. Quite frankly it stops you from burning out as it alleviates stress.
I spent years thinking socialising was "incompetent" and ultimately it messed with my body. If I get too stressed now my body does some really weird stuff such as cooling the body temperature of my leg to almost freezing point.

You may not feel like you need to socialise, and perhaps currently you dont. But other peoples need for health and common human interaction is by no means incompetent.

2) You evidently know NOTHING about business. Charisma is amazingly important.
If for instance you are in any form of investment position, you are charismatic or your business dies. Quite simply you need to charm the hell out of investors because you are asking them to beleive in not only your product, but your own ability. Quite frankly I would not even consider investing in someone myself if they did not show a general air of confidence. If they are not confident in their product then why should I be?
Charisma is important in demonstrating this confidence.

As a manager, you have to often get people to do what you want without neccesarily hindering their work. A good manager knows how to order somebody into doing something whilst not being too narrow about the order/appearing too hard on the employee to allow a fair level of creative enterprise on their part which could help the business. If you are not charismatic, this could go horribly wrong.


So yes, there is nothing wrong with socialisation or charisma. They are 2 things which are needed in our modern world which do no harm, but a lot of good.

[Spritalia]

Trust me, once it starts, it never stops. You'll start regretting you wished for it.

They will be the ones regretting the day they messed with a level 19 Anti-Paladin!

I kinda want that in my signature now..