The New York Times put Dan Barry's Monday column on the front page, which would indicate that someone at the paper of record thinks that bullying is a big deal. This particular story is pretty horrible: apparently Billy Wolfe of Fayetteville, Arkansas has been getting regular beatdowns for the past three years, sometimes so bad that he required medical attention.
Although I agree with this blogger that Barry's article doesn't try to show two sides of the story, it's clear that Billy is a target for repeated abuse. The article opens with a description of two students driving up to where Billy is waiting for the school bus, hitting him, and filming the incident with a cellphone camcorder. Ugly, ugly stuff.
What's most disturbing is the reported reactions from school officials. After Billy had to have his cheek sewn up by a dentist after being hit so hard in wood shop that he was briefly unconscious, one official said that, "it looked like Billy got what he deserved" and declined to call the police. Another school official says "Billy and the boy who punched him at the bus stop had exchanged words and shoves a few days earlier."
Somewhat like the "but he called me fat" defense, this doesn't exactly hold water. Do these "school officials" think that knocking someone unconscious is the appropriate response to a verbal fight, or even a physical one? Am I just an East Coast wussy who doesn't think it's acceptable for students to fight until they draw blood?
Billy's parents have filed a lawsuit against the students. One is named (Ian Teeters) and the others are "John Does." There was also some cyberbullying going on; a Facebook page was set up specifically to taunt Billy. This could be significant since cyberbullying is against state law. While I sympathize with the parents, I do think that suing his fellow students isn't likely to make Billy less of a target.
Lots of blogging about this of course, and Jess and Josh Talk About Stuff pointed me to this article from London's Daily Mail. The title, Coping with the bullies 'is part of growing up', says child expert, is enough to make your head explode, but the actual details are less wacko. If it is indeed true that "a child in Kent was arrested for throwing a slice of cucumber from a tuna sandwich at a classmate," then yes, that was a bit much. Unfortunately, it's too easy for some folks to classify any and all fighting as "boys will be boys." The Macho Response has a slightly different take. The blogger adds a little bit of text to the Times article: "So one day Billy walked into wood shop, picked up a two-by-four..." That's one option.
Maybe the bullies are just playing too many videogames.
image: New York Times
