"I'm a dominating bully"
Nov 20, 2009
from Alan J. Borsuk's entry on the Marquette University Law School faculty blog:
Three students from Milwaukee’s Custer High School, two girls and a boy, didn’t offer research evidence or a PowerPoint presentation. They just described incidents they have been involved in as bullies and as victims, gave their thoughts on why students act the way they do — and held the rapt attention of the audience.
All three are part of the Violence Free Zone project at Custer, run by Running Rebels, a local organization that aims to direct teens away from violent behavior.
“I feel people are bullies because they have nothing better to do,” said Kenyonna Glass, an eleventh grader. Shanique Harvey, a senior, said kids act like bullies because they think it helps get them in with the popular crowd. Lavonte King, a freshman, said he had been both a bully and a victim. “When I get bullied, I usually go bully someone else, take my anger out on someone else,” he said.
Asked by moderator India McCanse, executive director of Literacy Services of Wisconsin, what advice they would have for parents who want to reduce the chance of their children being either bullies or victims, Shanique said, “I would have to tell a parent to get more involved.” She suggested parents take some days off work and spend the time with their children.
But Kenyonna said, “Depends on who the parents are.” For many children, the problems of their parents are a major source of their own problems, she said. At another point, she said that often, “The person who is doing the bullying is probably going through things at home.”
