School Survival


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Fights at School

I found out today that people search Google for "school fights" over 300k times a month. This means that people enjoy watching high school students beating the crap out of each other for no good reason. This is sad.

So, in the hopes that some of the people searching for "school fights" will stumble upon this page, I'd like to re-post a little conversation some of us had on the forums a couple of years back, about fighting in school and the use of self-defense:

Wolf:
If you hit them, you're stooping down to their level.

Rebelnerd:
Oh, come on! What are people supposed to do, just stand there and take it? How is there any shame in fighting back? I could see how you might object to the violence, but it does NOT bring you down to their level for at least one simple reason: you didn't start it. They did. Even if they both use the same tactics, one is defense and the other is offense and that makes them undeniably different. I'm not saying its a good idea all the time, but you shouldn't just shut it out because of all this "stooping to their level" crap.

Wolf:
I didn't say just stand there and take it, don't be making assumptions. There are always alternatives to violence, it's just a matter of finding them. If you object to them hitting you, and hit them, that's being rather hypocritical.

We all claim to be so smart, so why don't we act like it? Obviously fighting will only instill fear or hatred, or both. Personally, that doesn't sound like a preferable path. So instead of acting on impulse and just clocking them, use your mind.

Rebelnerd:
Dude, if some guy just starts attacking you, you don't pull out your little "Guidance Counselor's Guide to Peaceful Conflict Resolution" and start flipping through. Yes, violence is not the best way to solve things. But sometimes it's the only choice. It's called self defense, and there's nothing wrong with it. We're not talking about attacking anyone just because you hate them, just protecting yourself. It's not hypocritical at all, it's protection.

Kirby:
The self defense issue depends on what the person is doing. If someone is being a regular jerk and pissing you off it isn't good reason for violence. If that person does on repeated occasions, violence may be acceptable. If a person bullies you in physical ways, then self defense is definitely acceptable.

If they refuse to listen to you find a way to fight them without direct confrontation.

SoulRiser:
The sad reality is that punching (or kicking, in my case) bullies works really well to get them to leave you alone. It works. It's quite possibly the easiest way to get rid of them. But... that doesn't mean it's the best way. It doesn't teach them anything. It just reinforces their stupid power struggle ideas, all it does is raise you up higher on the food chain and makes them go pick on someone else who doesn't fight back.

Rebelnerd:
But the thing is, they DO learn something. They learn that they can't just do whatever the hell they want to people, that sometimes their victims fight back. This will make them more cautious in the future, and could possibily dissuade them from repeating what they did. Also, the whole social standing thing is ruined because getting their ass kicked by the kid they were supposed to be picking on doesn't make them look very strong or cool in the eyes of their friends. I think it teaches them a great deal.

SoulRiser:
OK, it can teach them a lesson. It's possible, if by some miracle they use their brains for a split second. But for the most part, they will just "learn" to fear people. That's all. That's sort of like teaching a kid a lesson by spanking them. It might "work" but it doesn't really work.

I guess the real issue here is whether or not bullies are worth the effort of trying to "save" or if playing their own stupid game back at them is good enough?

Because I don't have any miracle cure for brain-dead people.

Rebelnerd:
I think they can be "saved." But before you try that they need to learn that they can't just go around picking on people, or people will fight back. Until they learn that, they won't take you seriously. It's not like spanking, because you're not trying to control them or teach them to obey you, you're just showing them that people won't always just let them do what they want to them.

What do you think?

What do you think about fighting at school and self defense? Leave a comment.

Where to next? Pick one!

Posted in: Commentary on January 31, 2010 @ 9:28 PM

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