I’d like to add few cents to the discussion on bullying. It struck me — as someone who was pretty thoroughly bullied in a state elementary school in Southern California from 4th through 6th grade — that bullying is not only tolerated, but encouraged by teachers, as a way of (1) maintaining “order” and (2) providing a very cheap way of rewarding those who are favored by the hierarchy.

By order, I mean enforcement of conformity and the stifling of any sort of dissent or real difference (as opposed to the alleged difference of the multi-culturalists). It is a very cheap way of ensuring that the norms of the community are enforced upon those who actually differ or may be most likely to differ. It has been my experience that a great many people simply cannot abide that some people choose to live differently, or like different things, and that makes them easy targets, especially in communities where shared social norms are very, very important, in which it is believed that people should not be allowed to make choices too far outside what is expected or demanded of them. This is why I love big cities, as opposed to suburbs or small towns. In cities, I can live the way I want without fear that someone is going to try and make it an issue. Knowing your neighbors is pointless if you have to live in fear of them.

And there is the matter of rewards. The world is full of sadists, people who enjoy brutalizing and humiliating other people, especially the weak, so it is better to make sure they are on the right side of the hierarchy (you know, giving them badges and guns when they are old enough) and serving its interests. Allowing or encouraging kids to bully other kids rewards them with power — a cheap reward, really, but one valued by the kids who bully. It means, for the most part, they aren’t going focus their sadism up toward the hierarchy, but down, toward approved victims of state power.

While suing is a nice idea, and a cute one, I don’t buy it. It won’t make kids stop, or their parents care, and it will not really change authority structures. The only way things stopped for me was working up the courage to fight back, which I started doing in 7th grade. It was hard, because I was never allowed to fight back, either by my parents or by teachers (and certainly not encouraged), and since no one acted to stop anything, I was effectively disarmed. And I paid a price for fighting, one that makes me angry to this day. It was worth it, though.

The Best of Charles H. Featherstone