Comment by adrianmsmith
15 days ago
> The principal always told me "just walk away"
I think the root of this problem is the principal-agent problem.
It literally doesn't matter to teachers (a) if you get bulled at school (they are not being bullied themselves) or (b) if you have problems later in life.
Maybe a bullied kid will completely lose it as an adult and murder a bunch of people. But does the teacher who completely failed to help them get arrested? No, therefore it just doesn't matter to them at all.
The only thing that would prevent this is teachers actually caring or being kind. And of course there are some that do and are. But relying on that isn't enough. There need to be right incentives set in order enable the majority of teachers to put in the effort to act in the right way.
(I don't know what that incentive structure looks like I'll admit.)
My recollections of being bullied is several decades old by this point, and it's probably something that varies from school to school, but I am convinced that bullies won't stop until they are forced to stop. The means may be verbal or physical, but a bully will keep going until there is actual consequences for their actions.
I am fortunate enough that I was too young to get sentenced when I snapped, and that I somehow managed to not get badly hurt in that fight. On the other hand, sending those twats to the scool nurse's office and just laughing at their bruises the day after... Worth it! I still smile when I see my own nose in the mirror.
Mind you, teachers are often powerless in many such situations. They can and should follow whatever procedures they have, but the main problems are the toothless anti-bullying policies and those are usually set though some vague government policy rather than schools themselves.