9 Charged after girl kills herself over bullying

[srmom]

No need to be insulting and rude. My "rat's patootie" comment was because you diverted the discussion from bullying to mainstream attention to the problem because of race!

I see that you edited your post, and I do agree with this:

I don't condone kids fighting back but there are a number of ways to let bullies know that they need to sit down somewhere. Even taking your kid to self-defense classes can boost self-esteem and provide a defense mechanism if need be.

The right solutions supposedly, or what parents are told to do, are for the student or parents to go to the school's administrators/teachers and let them know bullying is going on, but if schools do not respond to parent's and student's complaints, despite zero tolerance policies, then what is the solution?

Giving someone classes to bolster self esteem isn't going to help when they are the object of bullying, the bullying is counteracting any of the positive effects of martial arts classes, or modeling classes, or tutoring or whatever the parents have signed their kids up for to try to bolster their self esteem. And if it is physical bullying, a junior high age kid being outweighed by a brute or outnumbered is going to get beaten up regardless of his Kung Fu skills.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by srmom

No need to be insulting and rude. My "rat's patootie" comment was because you diverted the discussion from bullying to mainstream attention to the problem because of race!

Your comment was an attempt at snark and borderline rudeness just like your post about talking to your parents. You picked the wrong one if you thought you'd type like that to me but get nothing in return. Lesson learned on your part.

I care about mainstream attention because it matters for the general topic. You don't have to agree but I neither directed that post to you nor solicited your opinion.

Originally Posted by srmom

I see that you edited your post, and I do agree with this

I edited that before you read it and responded to it. You simply missed it. Your apology is accepted.

[Ch2tf]

Originally Posted by srmom

The right solutions supposedly, or what parents are told to do, are for the student or parents to go to the school's administrators/teachers and let them know bullying is going on, but if schools do not respond to parent's and student's complaints, despite zero tolerance policies, then what is the solution?.

So you really believe that the only thing to do would be to report it directly to the school, and if nothing else is done, nothing can ever be done?

If so, then I definitely agree with Dr. Phil in her statements that parents aren't doing enough to help their kids develop "coping methods". I personally can think of at least 2 other measures to address this problem as a parent, and I'm not even stretching my brain to do so.

Originally Posted by srmom

Giving someone classes to bolster self esteem isn't going to help when they are the object of bullying, the bullying is counteracting any of the positive effects of martial arts classes, or modeling classes, or tutoring or whatever the parents have signed their kids up for to try to bolster their self esteem. And if it is physical bullying, a junior high age kid being outweighed by a brute or outnumbered is going to get beaten up regardless of his Kung Fu skills.

Is self-esteem building going to fix everything, probably not, but I think you completely missed the points here. And effective discipline programs, like martial arts (it's not only about the ability to physically fight back)does in fact make significant affect on a kids perception of both the world and themselves.