CNN study: Schoolyard bullies not just preying on the weak

[alp227]

Tune in to "Anderson Cooper 360°" all week for the surprising results of a new study on bullying at 8 and 10 p.m. ET.
The roots of bullying

New York (CNN) -- A new study commissioned by CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360°" found that the stereotype of the schoolyard bully preying on the weak doesn't reflect reality in schools.

Instead, the research shows that many students are involved in "social combat" -- a constant verbal, physical and cyber fight to the top of the school social hierarchy.

"Kids are caught up in patterns of cruelty and aggression that have to do with jockeying for status," explains Robert Faris, a sociologist who "Anderson Cooper 360°" partnered with for the pilot study. "It's really not the kids that are psychologically troubled who are on the margins or the fringes of the school's social life. It's the kids right in the middle, at the heart of things ... often, typically highly, well-liked popular kids who are engaging in these behaviors."

Faris, along with the co-author of the study, Diane Felmlee, also found that bullies, who they call aggressors, and victims are not defined roles, but in many cases, they can be the same person. The higher a student rises on the social ladder, the more they bully other students and the more other students bully them.

full: http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/10/us/ac-360-bullying-study/index.html

Meanwhile, there was a Tea Party activist who defended anti-gay bullying.

[OneGrassRoot]

1. It strikes me that bullying is, for the most part, someone acting out racism and/or bigotry.

Bullies pick on others for some reason (never a GOOD reason, of course, but a reason): sexual orientation, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, weight, gender....I mean, really, isn't it bigotry?

Aren't bullies essentially bigots and vice versa?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. Not exactly - bullies pick on those who are either of lower social status

(which may be because of race, etc., but not necessarily) or who are competing with them for social status. It's more a "Lord of the Flies" phenomenon. The oddball kid, or the fat one, or the skinny one, the weird one, the gay or effeminate kid, the minority kid (if he/she is also perceived as "weak") is the normal target. My recollection of school bullies is consistent with what this article says: They weren't usually the tough "outlaw" kids who were getting in trouble for skipping school or smoking - they were the jocks and the cheerleaders, the "mean girls" who were trying to enhance their social status by harassing kids who were considered less attractive and/or popular. So it isn't really bigotry in the technical sense because the motivation isn't necessarily racial animus - it's just king-of-the-dungheap assholery.

[jwirr]

12. And nothing has changed - I am 70 years old and that description

was very true of the bullies of my day also. I wonder how the anti-bullying programs in our schools are doing? Are they making a difference? I hope so.

[csziggy]

9. When I was in school, a long time ago, the bullies were the popular kids

The cheerleaders, athletes, and beauty queens picked on all the other kids. Their bullying had nothing to do with racism or bigotry and more to do with their sense they were the privileged ones because of their looks or physical abilities. They hassled any kid that was not as pretty or as able to play sports or who was "different" from what they defined as normal. Though my class was the first to be fully integrated, little of the bullying was targeted towards differences in skin color and more aimed at differences in economic advantages and superficial looks.

They also looked down on kids who studied and worked hard to make good grades. They did not consider reading or knowledge to be important. It's not surprising that area of Florida is now deep red since that group of kids are now the "movers and shakers" and the people who run for office - that was in Polk County in the 50s and 60s.

[pipi_k]

11. That's how it was when I was a kid also...

The "popular" kids. The kids in cliques.

They picked on the kids they thought/knew wouldn't fight back.

I was a very shy kid and got picked on quite a bit. There was this one girl in sixth grade who picked on me unmercifully. I never said anything back.

Then, one day out on the playground while we were doing broad-jumping, she made some nasty comment as I was about to take my turn.

I faced her, right there in front of the other kids and told her to shut up and leave me alone. She was shocked into speechlessness.

On our way back into the classroom, one of the popular girls who didn't pick on other kids congratulated me for sticking up for myself. The other girl never bothered me again.

[csziggy]

17. I was relatively immune to their taunts

Because the thing they thought were important did not matter to me. As long as I had a book to read and could go riding my horse after school let out, I was happy. I didn't care about clothes, status, popularity, make up and all the other socially accepted goals that they did. I was a loner anyway so not having a lot of people to hang around with didn't bother me. Of course, that drove them nuts.

The real kicker for me was when a couple of the cheerleaders asked me to let them cheat off my World History test. That class was an easy "A" - all test questions came directly out of the book. All anyone had to do was look at the list of questions at the end of the current chapter, look up the answers to those ten questions, and learn those few answers and you could ace every test.

I don't know if they were too stupid or too lazy to bother with figuring this out. I didn't tell them the "secret" - I just laughed at them when they asked. Several cheerleaders were suspended from the squad for failing World History two times in a row. I knew then that there was no way anything those morons might say would ever bother me ever again.

[OneGrassRoot]

15. That's what I mean. They felt "entitled."

I know I'm going out on a limb by introducing racism and bigotry into the equation but it was a "duh" sort of realization for me.

They pick on kids because they feel superior to them in some way. Feeling entitled and superior to someone because they are different in terms of appearance, socioeconomic status, religion, intellect, etc., is a form of bigotry as I understand the word.

[pipi_k]

10. I don't think

all bullies are bigots.

If that's true, then how do we explain the internet bullies who often know virtually nothing about their victims?

[OneGrassRoot]

16. Simple assholery

:evilgrin:

But, seriously, most of the worst cases of bullying using the Internet, that I'm aware of, involved "in person" bullying as well -- they knew the person. It simply extended to online bullying as well.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

22. That was my experience in the 80's

Bullying was a huge problem at my school and the principle targets were Vietnamese and Iranian immigrants. The fact these were the children of the South Vietnamese and Iranian leadership the US saw fit to evacuate to the United States didn't seem to matter to the white trash losers lashing out an "terrorists and gooks".

The issue was basically white trash losers lashing out at prosperous immigrants who in little more than a decade had lapped their families half a dozen times.

[frazzled]

2. I'm almost certain this extends to Internet bullying

The social/political combat on sites like this is a constantly escalating war in which the great mass of posters participates, often using verbal bullying to achieve status as the roughest, toughest.

[alp227]

3. and those kids grow up to vote Republican

based on their "me society" POV and fetish for putting those inferiors. Just look at all those internet comments on Free Republic and even mainstream news sites that sharply bash immigrants, the poor, liberal politicians, and basically anyone whom Republicans/Fox News dislike.

[frazzled]

20. Um, I wasn't talking about FR

If you noticed, I said "here."

[alp227]

21. oh i see, but sadly even us liberals need to deal with the sexists/prejudiced among us.

and we're supposed to be the ones AGAINST prejudice and bigotry and hatred.

[lunatica]

4. Anyone can be a sociopath

They come in all walks of life. The thing that makes them stand out is their bullying and narcissism.

[valerief]

7. And that's a good thing, because a recent study concluded Wall St. traders are more reckless

than sociopaths.

Good thing not anyone can be a Wall St. trader.

[RKP5637]

5. And the politics in this country, some adults, some religious, TV, Internet and many others

certainly provide good role models for bullying and dominating others. I would dare say most kids are exposed to one form of bullying or another during their entire developmental lives. Frankly, I think kids of today live in a sadly sick society.

[Raine]

19. Yes EXACTLY

I really believe that many kids are learning this from adults. Of course not all because there has always been bullies in school but I think it's worse because of adult examples.

[valerief]

6. Uh, I didn't see any mention of gender in the article. An animal behaviorist would have included

that.

[Douglas Carpenter]

13. I wonder to what extent these same essential social dynamics are alive in the work place?

Of course work places vary greatly. And of course work-place bullying particularly in white collar jobs is going to be a lot more subtle than in a high school or middle school. Obviously, physical assaults and direct name calling are going to be rare in a proper adult middle class, white collar work environment. But the same essential social dynamic of increasing ones status by undermining others and exposing the weak and the vulnerable to intentional cruelty may very well carry in in adult life in many work environments frequently masked under sophisticated illusions of upholding high standards.

[slackmaster]

14. I never considered myself weak. A few bullies tried to prey on me...

...until I taught them a lesson.

[Raine]

18. I think as an adult I've had to contend with more bullying

from other adults than I did when I was in school. Adults seem to be setting a really bad example.

[Prometheus Bound]

23. As an adult I've been bullied by companies more than individuals.

I really hate that. They back off a bit when I tell them I'm not a good person to bully.

[EdMaven]

24. Duh. The soc's were the biggest bullies at school, they just weren't

as crude about it as stereotypical bullies.

Being more socially skilled & generally from a higher class background than crude bullies, they were able to be cruel in wayyy more devious ways without resorting to force.