even try. I find this attitude difficult to swallow, and ulti-
mately it serves as a damning critique on the priorities of
mankind.

Constant ridicule and bullying can have devastating
effects on a young mind, and can cause manic depres-
sion. Many teens will choose the route of suicide or
drugs. Teens are forced into a situation where they feel
angry and powerless. On a daily basis their sense of self
worth is assaulted by the “jocks” (tough guys) and their
girlfriends. As such they start reaching out for ways to
empower themselves. Threatened and wounded, their
anger is turned in all kinds of unpredictable directions.
They are tired of ridicule and physical assault, which the
school system does nothing substantive to prevent (due
primarily to a lack of resources). The two students,
labeled “outcasts” and “geeks,” were incapable of stand-
ing up to the muscular-ly and hierarchically superior
“jocks.” In order to empower themselves they looked for
ways to tilt the playing field in their favour. They did
this by becoming fascinated with weapons. They knew
that asking for help from teachers, police, or school
administrators would only aggravate their problems and
make them appear weak in the eyes of their friends.
Turning to traditional authority figures labels students as
“rats” or “snitches.” When this happens the bully may be
temporarily neutralized, but the bully’s friends will even
the score for him. The snitch, and he knows this before-
hand, will now be in for far worse abuse and pressure
than before.

The solution in this matter may indeed include turn-
ing away from the glorification of violence, but in the
schoolyard the most immediate and effective solution is
to stamp out bullying and teasing completely and perma-
nently. In this way we eliminate the cause of the anger
and are not forced to run around putting out fires after
the fact. The fires should not be allowed to start in the
first place.

For those who suggest that eliminating bullying and
teasing in schools is not possible, I would suggest that
they are wrong.

Certain societies have eliminated the problem. Let us
take the Tibetan monasteries as an example. The Tibetan
monasteries use a system in which teachers are on every
corner constantly watching their children and immediate-
ly seizing upon their mistakes. Bullying and teasing are

page 22 the Other Press

May 1999

not tolerated and such behaviour is immediately pun-
ished (using non-violent means). It begins when children
are very young, and continues throughout adolescence.

The Tibetan teachers not only give students raw data
and information processing skills, (as in North America)
but also teach them important moral lessons. The result
is that the Tibetan monasteries create a kinder, gentler
society of individuals which is far superior in nature to
anything produced in the west.

A similar system of “teachers on every corner, on
every playground, and in every room” could be imple-
mented in our society. While one may argue about the
“big brother” nature of such a setup, I would suggest
that the immature nature of children necessitates just
such a “big brother” influence for their own good and
ultimately our own. Only a fool would suggest that their
children should be granted absolute freedom.

The ultimate solution is far too deep and complicated
to be addressed adequately in a limited forum such as
this. Suffice it to say that I believe too much emphasis
has been put on the counselling of the troubled “out-
casts,” when the real solution lies in the counselling of
the bullies and teasers. In this way we solve both prob-
lems.

Unfortunately, it is my fullest expectation that society
will have no interest in dedicating the kind of money
that will be necessary to end this problem and ultimately
advance our race. Without the proper education and care
of our children, we shall always remain a violent and bar-
baric race. Lessons in violence begin on the playground,
and evolve during the course of our lives. All solutions
short of proper education and supervision are nothing
more than attempts to manage the problem or sweep it
under the rug.