Bullies

[Peg]

Were you bullied in school?

How did it make you feel?

Were you a bully in school?

How do you feel about what you did now?

Where do you think bullying comes from? Is it a learned behavior at home?

[lady cop]

when you are a kid anyone deemed different is subject to bullying...i went through a tough time for being 'too tall' in elementary school. came home crying all the time. when i was 13 we had a 16-year-old male bully who beat everyone up all the time, kids were afraid to walk home from school. so one day i beat the living snot out of him in front of everyone, a total humiliation. that was the end of that. it's like the wife-and-kid beaters i meet today...they are real tough guys until we show up. then they snivel and whine and grovel.

[Majenta]

It's definitely 'different' that does it. I was picked on in secondary school for having frizzy hair and glasses... this one group of girls made up a song about me which they sang at me everytime I walked past which was quite intimidating as a 12yr old. Not as bad as being beaten up though, that must be so awful... my heart goes out to anyone who had to endure that. People that do it are disgusting... and no one can convince me that kids don't know right and wrong well enough... even as a three year old I knew it was wrong to say horrible things to people

[Clint]

Bullies are a part of life. They will never go away.

My Dad told me that if I came home from school (1st grade) all beat up one more time I would have to deal with him too. I stood up to the bully and won. I then saw myself as the tough guy and had to be humbled later on.

[telaquapacky]

A kid in school pushed me against a wall and chipped my front tooth. You can still see it. Many years later, I was looking for a weight exercise bench and responded to an ad in the classifieds. The guy selling it was this same guy. I greeted him gladly and we talked about school days (the aforesaid incident we left out). At one point the man looked at my teeth and I saw him wince. His mood seemed serious and a little low. I bought the bench and ended the encounter on a friendly note. Do you think he thought about it?

[Bez]

Bullies are scum. I have only been bullied once....the boy stole some fireworks from me, then hit me round the head....I threw up all over him and he never got near me again.(We were about 11 yrs old then)

Where I work, the first sign of bullying is dealt with by dismissal...I have dismissed several people over the years. I quite expected to have the tyres slashed on my car, but nothing has happened as yet. (cross fingers) It takes great courage to stand up to bullies. Any kind of intimidation or fighting scares the s**t out of me. I once saw some kids making fun out of a downs syndrome boy...it made my blood boil and I had to summon the courage to get them to stop which they did.

My 2 teenage grandaughters have been bullied at school within a few days of joining. One stood her ground and got it sorted......the other needed intervention from teachers.

It makes me so mad.....what sort of adults will these people turn into.....they should be sent to 'Boot camp' or something similar.

Sorry to rant on, but like everyone else I think that anyone who mentally or physically hurts another human being of any age are the lowest of the low.

[gmc]

In first year I wasalmost hospitalised by a fourth year (I was 12 he was about 16) I always remember being asked by a deeply sympathetic form teacher if I had provoked him in any way. none of this strategy for dealing with bullies it was just part of life. Ever after I was always expecting him to layway me outside of school with his mates, nowadays i thibk the poice would be called. We had full blown extortion rackets going on, always fought back after a while I got left alone with kids who wouldn't fight back being the main vctims all part of growing up. I've always thought verbal and psycholigical bulling was worse-especially in the work place where it can be quite malicious.

[Betty Boop]

I was bullied at primary school, mostly name calling, I never let the bullies see that they had upset me but I used to get home after school and break my heart.

When I moved on to secondary school some girls in the higher years tried to bully my group of freinds, I can remember telling all my freinds to act as though the bullies didn't exist and completely ignore them, luckily it worked for us and they left us alone.

I remember being with a new girl and taking her to the canteen for dinner, on the way two girls two years older stopped us, one being a big fat girl and three times the size of the new girl, she pleaded with the new girl to let her beat her up so she could pass an initiation test and join a gang!! I actually laughed and told them they could find better freinds than bullies, wrong thing to do, the other girl went for me, luckily I managed to push her off and over balanced her, as she hit the deck we ran!! I always lived in fear of the gang catching me on my own after that, but luckily they didn't.

Bullying nowadays seems to be much more violent and starts so much earlier we've recently had a child removed from my sons school and they were still in the infants!!

[chonsigirl]

Oh, the thought of this makes me want to cry. As a teacher, we observe bullying behavior and do our best to stop it. Sometimes things go on behind the adults backs, we can't catch everything. Kids have to learn to tell someone about being bullied: parents, counselor, teacher, etc. We try our best to halt it, I know I always have loads of kids in at lunch for two reasons: lunch detentions sit over on one side, they can't talk or have fun. (they can scrub my desks too when they finish eating) The other group contains the ones that are picked on, and cannot handle the lunchroom. Smaller groups seem to work for them, the larger group of about 250 at lunchtime, where they are on the bottom of the pecking order.

School Starts Monday, no bullying allowed!

[BabyRider]

OOOHHH...I HATE bullies!!! My sister was bullied all through school, because she was a bit heavy. I remember this one kid, Ricky Berner, the little f***ing Nazi, who would send her home 4 days out of 5 in tears. Being separated by 3 grades, our schools were not in the same building. We went to a TINY school, 80 students in K-8th grades, the lower grade students schooled at the church, the upper grades schooled at a small school house. One day, we all went to the "big" school for some function, can't remember what it was, but it was the dead of winter and we all went out for recess. I saw that little prick taunting my sister and making her cry and I went nuts. I found this huge block of ice on the parking lot, grabbed it up, snuck up behind him and clobbered him over the head, knocked him clean out. When he came to a few seconds later, I was standing on his chest screaming in his face to get up so I could knock him down again. Needless to say, he left my sister alone after that and while I had to apologize, my dad bought me a new bike for sticking up for my sister. Ricky never lived down getting his ass handed to him by a girl.

[Majenta]

That is AWESOME BR! good on ya!

[actionfigurestepho]

I've always been small for my age, and of course I had glasses and was poor so I didn't dress very nicely, so bullies had a lot to pick on me for. I remember it got so bad one day I snapped and beat the crap out of this guy (yes a GUY) who was picking on me. He was a year younger than I but so much bigger...I think I must have just caught him by surprise. Ever since then I haven't been physically afraid, but I still have a wee bit of social anxiety from back in the day. Especially walking past a group of pretty girls...I always feel like they're looking at me and laughing, just like in middle school. It's so easy to internalize that stuff.

[Peg]

Sometimes, I think verbal abuse would be worse than being physically hit every day. Either way, I'm sure it could do a lot of damage to the mind, heart, and soul.

Do you think people who belittle others do it to make themselves feel better for the lack of something in themselves or what? How about internet bullies? I have seen that before. "I'm going to beat you up at school tomorrow." You see them at school and they do nothing. How about the ones in chatrooms where they make fun of the way you type, spell, etc.? Do you think that hurts any less?

[Betty Boop]

Peg wrote: Sometimes, I think verbal abuse would be worse than being physically hit every day. Either way, I'm sure it could do a lot of damage to the mind, heart, and soul.


There is proof of physical abuse, you can't prove anything with verbal abuse.



Peg wrote: Do you think people who belittle others do it to make themselves feel better for the lack of something in themselves or what? How about internet bullies? I have seen that before. "I'm going to beat you up at school tomorrow." You see them at school and they do nothing. How about the ones in chatrooms where they make fun of the way you type, spell, etc.? Do you think that hurts any less?


Do I think it makes it hurt any less? No.

[nvalleyvee]

I was bullied once at my brother's ball game. Some girl came up to me and said I had been mean to her brother. She started slapping me and yelling until an adult came up and made her leave the park. I was the most insecure scared child and would never have hurt a fly. I didn't even know her brother.

[rainbowsmiles]

Were you bullied in school?

How did it make you feel?

Were you a bully in school?

How do you feel about what you did now?

Where do you think bullying comes from? Is it a learned behavior at home?


I was only picked on once and it was outside school. It was in 6th grade and someone in Jr. High decided they had a problem with me. I didn't even know her. She couldn't pick on me at school because we were in Private School and the smallest sign of bullying the students were expelled or their parents were warned. But I was lucky that my sister being 5 years older than me confronted the girl and that was the last time she annoyed me. But I had to put up with her pushing me and swearing at me everyday after school until I ran to my sister about it. I still have no real idea who she was except for her name and I guess she told others she didn't like me because everytime I walked by her in the halls I had a grouchy look on my face :-3



I think bullying comes from a persons insecurities (having low-self esteem). Sometimes I think it comes from lack of communication.

[Peg]

Peg wrote: Sometimes, I think verbal abuse would be worse than being physically hit every day. Either way, I'm sure it could do a lot of damage to the mind, heart, and soul.

Do you think people who belittle others do it to make themselves feel better for the lack of something in themselves or what? How about internet bullies? I have seen that before. "I'm going to beat you up at school tomorrow." You see them at school and they do nothing. How about the ones in chatrooms where they make fun of the way you type, spell, etc.? Do you think that hurts any less?


I started this thread for a reason. I was hoping some people would take the subtle hint and see themselves. Now I see KM is banned. I must've missed something major. She was banned for what? Defending herself? Darn near every time she made a spelling mistake, it was pointed out. Other people make spelling mistakes, and nothing is said. She repeats a thread, it was pointed out. Other people do it, nothing is said. KM had obvious problems. I cannot justify in no way, shape, or form the making fun of someone who may be slower than others. To tell you the truth, it makes me want to puke. I sure don't think as highly of some people as I used to.

[Wolverine]

Clint wrote: Bullies are a part of life. They will never go away.

My Dad told me that if I came home from school (1st grade) all beat up one more time I would have to deal with him too. I stood up to the bully and won. I then saw myself as the tough guy and had to be humbled later on.


similar situation Clint. Old man told me, "Maybe you didn't start it, but you Damn well better finish it."

[Wolverine]

ArnoldLayne wrote: Bullies seemingly have this need to be superior and dominant and have no other way of doing it . Certainly not intellectually. They are never able to meet you on a level playing field cos that's when they come unstuck, that wouldn't involve playing their rules.

For the most part I've found looking them in the eye, face to face and confronting them always makes them uncomfortable . It relieves them of their "comfort blanket" when they're not in charge. They feed on peoples insecurities and can spot them ,like a dog picks up on a humans fear.

Some unfortunately dont change. The older ones are the most obnoxious people


"all bark and No bite"

[Betty Boop]

Peg wrote: I started this thread for a reason. I was hoping some people would take the subtle hint and see themselves. Now I see KM is banned. I must've missed something major. She was banned for what? Defending herself? Darn near every time she made a spelling mistake, it was pointed out. Other people make spelling mistakes, and nothing is said. She repeats a thread, it was pointed out. Other people do it, nothing is said. KM had obvious problems. I cannot justify in no way, shape, or form the making fun of someone who may be slower than others. To tell you the truth, it makes me want to puke. I sure don't think as highly of some people as I used to.


I immediately realised the point you were making Peg after your second post on this thread.

Yes the double postings, spellings etc drove me mad, but I got the impression maybe she only read the threads she made, maybe she found reading all the threads hard work, she has five children, maybe she just didn't have the time?

Why was she banned?

And if she's out there looking in, I hope all goes well for your little girl with her brace.

[Accountable]

Betty Boop wrote: I immediately realised the point you were making Peg after your second post on this thread.

Yes the double postings, spellings etc drove me mad, but I got the impression maybe she only read the threads she made, maybe she found reading all the threads hard work, she has five children, maybe she just didn't have the time?

Why was she banned?

And if she's out there looking in, I hope all goes well for your little girl with her brace.
I understand this is a benevolent dictatorship, and that I'm a guest in Tombstone & Anastrophe's house, but I would like to know what it takes to get people banned. I'd hate to think I'm supporting (not monetarily, but still) a forum that bans on a whim. KM made me nuts; so did David813 (I think the number's right). But that's not a reason to ban someone, just a reason not to respond to them.

[BabyRider]

Betty Boop wrote: maybe she just didn't have the time?


Didn't have the time? She was on here for hours at a time, she had all kinds of time.

I don't know why she was banned, but I can't pretend to be sorry about it. She got highly defensive at anything constructive that was said to her, no matter how it was said. Just as someone said "We didn't have to read or respnd to her" she didn't have to read or respond to the people correcting her.

People don't get banned lightly here, from what I've seen. That's coming from a person whose own fiance got banned. He messed up, he said things he shouldn't have said, and he got the boot. Obviously kmhowe did too.

[minks]

Far Rider wrote: Ok I have remained silent long enough.

Id appreciate some consideration for KM. for several reasons, she was obviously young, and not the best speller or writer, and had difficulty expressing herself. And she made mistakes about like threads. But she was not a troll or malicious she did not appear to me to go on the attack, she was on the defensive.

I'm no better, I have chased a few around this forum, wondering if they were someone else. I justified it in my own mind thinking they were trolls or the types to come here just to cause trouble.

Im not a mod and I dont have special powers to know peoples minds I can't see their intent. I read it the best I can, but I cant check ISP's or anything like that.

I feel guilty for what happened to KM, because when I saw folks here attacking her in a way that I thought was unfair I said nothing. Shame on me. I allowed a weaker person to get attacked and did nothing.

Peg is right.


Oh boy powerful stuff going on here. I know nothing of what has gone on outside of the public eye here on FG and won't base my judgemnts on just what has been posted for us "Joe Average's" to see. But I would like to comment on the fact that not every poster new or old is going to "gel" with every other poster on any Forum. We have proof of this daily in real time, and cyber time is no different. We are not clones or cookie cut outs and no one should be made to feel badly if they fall outside of the realm of what a few may expect of them. I think back on some of our more colorful and controversial posters who left willingly because they lost out on the "popularity contest" and feel both glad and sad they left, but....they left on their own as far as I know. ( I will stand corrected if this is pointed out to me and apologize ahead of time. )

I hope this banning was a result of a serious FG breach and not pressure by a few members on admin because this girl had some conformity flaws. I hope she received warnings, and explanations by admin and was given a fair chance to correct her ways.

On a personal note I think FG is an exceptionally well run Forum. We boast a mature collection of folks and I hope we go on in this direction of respect to others and play fair always.

[minks]

ArnoldLayne wrote: Yes , I too wondered what her crime was. I'm interested to note that she had no "referals" so I hope her crime was serious enough to warrent a ban and not because of pressure from others.

Can the administators shed some light ?


Oh I know what it was, sheezh white hose with black shoes. I am certain of that. hehehehehehe

[anastrophe]

i'm reluctant to respond, since there are privacy issues at work here.



i will simply say that if you want a guaranteed, foolproof method to get yourself banned, just threaten us with a lawsuit. it'll work every time.



i feel really bad for kmhowe.



it's a shame she got herself banned.



please reread that sentence if you don't understand, with clarity, what i just said. reread it again. and again.



we *are* proactive when someone lodges a complaint, and provides specifics with which we can act upon the complaint. however, just like other, regular members here, *we have no obligation to tolerate threats against us, for any reason*.



life is hard. hopefully a lesson will be learned from this. i've learned such lessons myself, in spades. the hurt stays with you. one can grow from such events once one accepts that one's own actions caused the hurt - not somebody else.

[minks]

anastrophe wrote: i'm reluctant to respond, since there are privacy issues at work here.



i will simply say that if you want a guaranteed, foolproof method to get yourself banned, just threaten us with a lawsuit. it'll work every time.



i feel really bad for kmhowe.



it's a shame she got herself banned.



please reread that sentence if you don't understand, with clarity, what i just said. reread it again. and again.



we *are* proactive when someone lodges a complaint, and provides specifics with which we can act upon the complaint. however, just like other, regular members here, *we have no obligation to tolerate threats against us, for any reason*.



life is hard. hopefully a lesson will be learned from this. i've learned such lessons myself, in spades. the hurt stays with you. one can grow from such events once one accepts that one's own actions caused the hurt - not somebody else.


Works for me, and we appreciate the knowledge it prevents speculations

[Accountable]

I'm satisfied with that response. Thanks Paul.

[lady cop]

ArnoldLayne wrote: Yes , I too wondered what her crime was. I'm interested to note that she had no "referals" so I hope her crime was serious enough to warrent a ban and not because of pressure from others.



Can the administators shed some light ?i am not admin, but referrals just means the number of new members one has brought to FG.

[Accountable]

ArnoldLayne wrote: LOL thought it was a smacked bum and sent to the headmasters office
That's because you saw I had one, isn't it?

[BabyRider]

anastrophe wrote: one's own actions caused the hurt - not somebody else.


That should clear up any more speculation about members bringing "pressure" on administration.

[mominiowa]

I am glad that this is here..I was just going to ask some advice... My daughter who is in 7th grade never wanted to ride the bus last year--I always brought her..well last week school started and her little sister 6th grade was now able to ride with her..so off they went.. the first day she came home and went right to her room.I confronted her sister and she said the same boy that picked on her last year for being "fat" was up to it again...I went and talked to her and she begged me not to confront him...So I let it go. The next day she came home swearing she hated her sister and was NEVER getting back on that bus...I again asked her lil sis what had happened and she said she was called a "fagot" and a fat a$$ -then he told her lil sister that she was lucky she wasn't fat and a dike like her sis...I was MORTIFIED...I went down stairs and told her to tell me where he lived...she informed me that I should not go there and that it would be worse on her if I did.. She made me promise not to call the school....Well - I called the bus barn instead and had a conversation with the head of transportation. He had promised me her name would not get brought up but they had another compalint..so he would HAVE to look into it.. Friday - she got pulled out of class and into the principle office..she ended up having to tell him what was said and he told her that she wouldn't be bothered again and if he did they would take care of it...The neighbors car got its window broke out Saturday night and it was 4 boys....this boy was one of them...Do I think they thought it was our house? Yes...but I do not know for sure...the said thing....This boy was born with 1 ear - He has prosthetic ear and he was probably teased his early years before her got it...so why on earth does a person who is teased - have to do it to someone else... My daughter has arthritis but is active and isn't heavy...I don't think...where do kids come up with this..and was I wrong to go to the transportation after telling her I wouldn't go to the school?:-1

[minks]

mominiowa wrote: I am glad that this is here..I was just going to ask some advice... My daughter who is in 7th grade never wanted to ride the bus last year--I always brought her..well last week school started and her little sister 6th grade was now able to ride with her..so off they went.. the first day she came home and went right to her room.I confronted her sister and she said the same boy that picked on her last year for being "fat" was up to it again...I went and talked to her and she begged me not to confront him...So I let it go. The next day she came home swearing she hated her sister and was NEVER getting back on that bus...I again asked her lil sis what had happened and she said she was called a "fagot" and a fat a$$ -then he told her lil sister that she was lucky she wasn't fat and a dike like her sis...I was MORTIFIED...I went down stairs and told her to tell me where he lived...she informed me that I should not go there and that it would be worse on her if I did.. She made me promise not to call the school....Well - I called the bus barn instead and had a conversation with the head of transportation. He had promised me her name would not get brought up but they had another compalint..so he would HAVE to look into it.. Friday - she got pulled out of class and into the principle office..she ended up having to tell him what was said and he told her that she wouldn't be bothered again and if he did they would take care of it...The neighbors car got its window broke out Saturday night and it was 4 boys....this boy was one of them...Do I think they thought it was our house? Yes...but I do not know for sure...the said thing....This boy was born with 1 ear - He has prosthetic ear and he was probably teased his early years before her got it...so why on earth does a person who is teased - have to do it to someone else... My daughter has arthritis but is active and isn't heavy...I don't think...where do kids come up with this..and was I wrong to go to the transportation after telling her I wouldn't go to the school?:-1


Bullying has to stop and you did right despite what your daughter may think. I just hope she does not fall into the path of this boys flare ups again.

[mominiowa]

Me too...it scares me and now my 6th grader too... we almost want to move to the other side of town...

[chonsigirl]

Mom, do not let them bully the kids! Tell the school, the teachers, the counselors and all of them. They will do their best to work with you in this situation, school does not stop when the bell rings. I was on the lookout my first day back to watch for this behavior, and so will the other adults. Moving away doesn't do any good, there are bullies at the next place.

Thank you for explaining about KM's banning-I liked her and I know she did not understand some things about posting. But maybe that will help us explain these things better to newbies that come along, so the same things does not happen again.

[DesignerGal]

I have never been bullied that badly. I was punched in the stomach once in first grade. When I was in High School, my junior year, a boy named Bryan shot himself in the middle of class because people picked on him for being overweight. It was awful. I would never bully or even pick on someone. I was thin and blonde in school, now I am "more cushiony" and it hurts when someone calls you names. I am still the same funny girl I was before, there is just a little more of me. I dont have children yet, but if I ever catch them picking on someone less fortunate, or someone the other kids consider less attractive (because we are all beautiful) I will make sure they understand its wrong and hurtful!

[minks]

DesignerGal wrote: I have never been bullied that badly. I was punched in the stomach once in first grade. When I was in High School, my junior year, a boy named Bryan shot himself in the middle of class because people picked on him for being overweight. It was awful. I would never bully or even pick on someone. I was thin and blonde in school, now I am "more cushiony" and it hurts when someone calls you names. I am still the same funny girl I was before, there is just a little more of me. I dont have children yet, but if I ever catch them picking on someone less fortunate, or someone the other kids consider less attractive (because we are all beautiful) I will make sure they understand its wrong and hurtful!


Exactly wrong and hurtful. Could not agree with you more. Bully behavior to me means ignorance, ignorance as in not taking the time to understand some one who is different than ourself. Kind of goes hand in hand with prejudice.

[DesignerGal]

Yeah, I grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta and let me tell you. Everyone was just dying to look the same. We all had the same hair, the same clothes, the same makeup tricks, our boyfriends looked the same, we did the same thing every darn weekend...

Where is the fun in that? When I turned 18 I moved to the city and got an apartment and made all sorts of friends. They were all different: black, white, japanese, indian, physically handicapped, blind, plump, skinny, artsy, hippie, etc. I love them all and we are still good friends 10 years later. Its the diversity that has kept us interested in eachother all of these years. Its being different that makes you interesting. Trying to fit in and look like eveyone else sucks. Its too bad most of us learn that late in life rather than in preschool where more emphasis should be put on it.

[minks]

DesignerGal wrote: Yeah, I grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta and let me tell you. Everyone was just dying to look the same. We all had the same hair, the same clothes, the same makeup tricks, our boyfriends looked the same, we did the same thing every darn weekend...

Where is the fun in that? When I turned 18 I moved to the city and got an apartment and made all sorts of friends. They were all different: black, white, japanese, indian, physically handicapped, blind, plump, skinny, artsy, hippie, etc. I love them all and we are still good friends 10 years later. Its the diversity that has kept us interested in eachother all of these years. Its being different that makes you interesting. Trying to fit in and look like eveyone else sucks. Its too bad most of us learn that late in life rather than in preschool where more emphasis should be put on it.


Maturity helps along the way tooo

[Jives]

(sigh) threads like this always seem to get me in trouble....

I was the target of bullying for my entire middle school career. A guy named Steve Hanson made it a point to make every single day miserable for me. I even felt suicidal at times.

But when I moved to a new city, I decided that the question isn't "Why isn't the world fair?" but instead, "Since the world's not fair, what do I intend to do about it?" I took karate, lifted weights, rewrote my personality, got a hot car and a girlfriend and began to move in different circles. You see, I realize a big part of what made me a target....was myself.

As for Kim. I'm sorry to see her go. She was a sweetie and I liked her, but at the same time, I have a problem with someone who purports to be in my profession, education, and is consistently and seriously illiterate! Every time she posted she gave my chosen occupation a black eye! If she was upset that others gave her a hard time about her illiterate statements, what could she have done about it? How about reading a grammar book? Or practicing her sentence structure?

And here's something else to think about. This isn't a 3rd grade playground. Everyone here is an intelligent adult, and that includes Skittles. It's a forum for debate. Tough opinions, rousing topics, and emotional subjects get dissected in here by extremely competent and intelligent people.

If you are a person who is afraid to get your feelings hurt, or can't express yourself lucidly....then you'd be better off in the AOL chatrooms. There's a reason why there are many more lurkers around here than major posters. You have to have a little bit of thick skin to be here at all, where everything you type is exposed to the entire planetary web. (Don't believe me? Type your own name in Google and see your posts pop up!)

Babyrider is one of those people to which I refer. She is definitely not politically correct all the time, but she ALWAYS stands up for what she believes and is not afraid to take a little criticism herself. Ladycop is similar, as is TW2005, and SCRAT whom I fight with constantly, and yet admire for his perserverance and unswerving faith in his beliefs.

So....sorry if you took a hit Kim, I've been banned myself and it stings like crazy, but realize a forum is a kitchen, and it's hot in here. So if you can't take the heat....?

[Dizz]

I was bullied the worst in middle school. In the PE locker rooms, the girls would come at me with combs and hairspray and tease my hair as big as they could get it and it HURT! They also stuck menstral pads on my locker almost everyday and publicly hugged me in ways that weren't friendly. On the bus, the cutest guy in school tried to stick a condom on my finger, but I sortof took that as a compliment. That way it didn't bother me so much.

I hate teasing and bullying. So far my kids have escaped the worst of it, save a few times. I tell them to always finish a fight, but never start one so they don't get bothered more than once. It's worked so far.

[nvalleyvee]

OK - I have one thing to say..........most of us adults at FG were bullied at some time during our formative years. That may be why we try to respect each other. :-4 I really think getting bullied makes us either serial killers or just down right good people. Loves to all of you :-4

[theia]

[QUOTE=Jives]

If you are a person who is afraid to get your feelings hurt, or can't express yourself lucidly....then you'd be better off in the AOL chatrooms. There's a reason why there are many more lurkers around here than major posters. You have to have a little bit of thick skin to be here at all, where everything you type is exposed to the entire planetary web. (Don't believe me? Type your own name in Google and see your posts pop up!)



I don't agree, Jives. I don't like getting my feelings hurt (does anyone?) but I can't see how joining a chatroom would prevent this.

I suppose I could be seen as a "lurker" - I read more than I post. But how would FG fare if every member was a major poster? Surely group dynamics come into play on an internet forum as they do in real life groups and would explain, in part, the ratio of lurkers to major posters?

[hotsauce]

i must be thin skinned...just reading through all of this made me feel sad. kinda glad i missed out on this ugly stuff.