Camy's Thang!!!

I really think we've come a ways forward, societally. Individually, people are still people and will act like they do. I hear so many success stories of kids in school being themselves and other kids treating them like they're simply another variation on the theme. Then there are the schools and bullies we read about that are so heartbreaking. I really do think school administrators should be held more accountable. So many deny anything is wrong. As in the Larry King case. The pricipal kept claiming there wasn't anything more they could do. Which is a load of hogwash. Adults in responsible positions monitoring kids need more training, and possibly removal from their jobs if an attitude adjustment isn't forthcoming. But in today's economic climate where teachers are being given more and more to do that has nothing to do with teaching, where classroom aids are being cut along with the budget for essential classroom supplies, where libraries are being closed and another safe haven disappears, there are fewer eyes to watch what goes on on the playgrounds and in hallways and restrooms. Kids need supervision. Without it, bullying will thrive. Perhaps harsher penalties for the bullies would help. But if the people in charge don't see it as a problem, that'll never happen.C C

Cole, I agree that society has come a long way in a short time. Unfortunately humans, as a species, haven't. We might think and talk and have the trappings of civilisation, but we're still animals in a very real sense and are manipulated by chemicals in our bodies over which we have no control.Then, at school, you have an unwritten honour code which says 'don't tell adults anything (and if you do you're ostracised).'The mix of the two can be lethal.