Study Reveals Why "Nerds" Get Bullied

[Nicolai]

I think this is poor study design. While it can have some contributing factors to being the most marginalised kid in the year level who is at the bottom of the hierarchy, there are a number of reasons othe Escapists have brought up which count in individual circumstances.

Also trying to quantify a study like this with figures like 10% when it's highly qualitative data which differs depending on genetic, socioeconomic and environmental factors are flimsy. I think they need a wider scope of possible causes because while kids who have trouble fitting in can be bullied, they're not the only ones and sometimes not even the worst affected targets.

 

[SimuLord]

The article seems to assume that normally socialized kids (i.e. those with friends) can shake the "nerdy" stereotype as if it were some kind of disease.

Furthermore, it completely ignores the entire pervasive developmental disorder/autism spectrum, and as the many Aspies and other autism-spectrum sufferers on this site know only too well, all the friends in the world won't change what is basically hardwired difficulties with those kinds of social cues.

Why do nerds get bullied? Because they tend toward intellectual rather than physical pursuits and bullies are, by nature, opportunistic people who take their own dysfunction out on the easiest targets. The problem isn't with the nerds. It's with the bullies, and until the powers that be realize that, we're going to have stuff like nerds taking guns to school as social equalizers.

(that's right. I just suggested that school shootings are caused by the bullies. Anyone care to throw 2¢ in?)

 

[Erana]

What about discrimination?
I've been teased and mocked more in college than I have in grade school, simply because I'm a bit younger than other people.

 

[Comma-Kazie]

As I always say, "Be nice to nerds--chances are you'll end up working for one someday."

 

[Jumplion]

Well, it's not all that surprising, but it definitely can be a factor.

Obviously, bullying comes from a number of factors (which sadly, not many of you seem to realize that there's more than one factor). There's social status, communication issues, physical appearance, just being annoying, blah de blah blah. Not being able to read verbal queues is just one factor of the many influences on bullying.

I've experienced bullying in my life, witnessed a lot. There's this one kid who always tried to fit in, crack some totally off the wall lame joke, tried to act "cool" by being a bit too loud. He was a sweet kid when you got to know him and got him to calm down, but he was ferociously bullied by the rest of my classmates. I would like to think that it was all just playful teasing, but I'd be lieing.

Overall, like I said before, bullying comes from a series of factors which for some reason some of you don't seem to get and think that this article is the "DEFINITE REASON FOR BULLYING!" It's not, it's just some insight on the many reasons for it.

 

[Eri]

tl;dr people get bullied because bullies are assholes and get offended for life when someone is smarter than them.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand...they get offended a lot..considering that is pretty much everyone.

 

[sylekage]

I've been bullied all my life and I can say I'm an exception to this. I know these "nonverbal cues" they speak of, I'm actually pretty good at reading people, what they're thinking, what their emotion is, but I still got bullied. It's probably cuz I'm a loner, outsider, like to be away from people, and idiot bullies saw weakness in that.

 

[e2density]

Lemme guess they spend well over $250,000 to do this study?

 

[Romblen]

I'm pretty sure it's over 10%. A couple years ago I saw this video where a couple kids got about 200 high school kids together. The kids that gathered them said, "Anyone who has ever been bullied due to race, appearance, physical or academic abilities, your hobbies, or the way you act, please walk over to the other side of the room. Every single person walked.

 

[Tony Harrison]

Correlation does not equal causation. The kid with the social problems probably has something else going on. Besides, I don't like the implication that the kid being bullied is the one doing something wrong. But then, who's going to pay to stop their child being a bully?

 

[toiletduck]

Back in the day, the assholes made fun of people who played video games all the time.

Now it seems the assholes are the primary gaming crowd.

 

[Nimzar]

He found that very specific factors during social interaction, including the inability to pick up on nonverbal social cues, can lead to rejection, which could explain why some kids become "nerds."

I thought they called that Asperger's disorder.

I got the impression that the this was not a genetic disorder like Asperger's. This isn't autism; this is a cycle of social ineptitude started by being a little slower (not everyone develops at the same pace) at developing those social skills (like the ability to correctly interpret nonverbal cues) in the first place.

Basically, kid is a little slow on the uptake of those signals. Doesn't do well in first social interaction with a group of peers. Has further trouble interacting with those peers in the future because he is also having to make up for previous poor social interactions, and thus continues to fail to build strong social skills which result in further poor social interactions.

 

[Gunner 51]

Nerds get bullied for a few reasons over so-called normal people.

1.) They're too weak to fight back physically.
2.) They're easy targets because they act differently to the rest of the school populace.
3.) They're seen to be in good keeping with teachers. And by beating them up, the bullies think of themselves as rebels.
4.) Bullies are cowardly jackasses anyways.

 

[Booze Zombie]

That's not a nerd problem, that's a problem with social ineptness.

Being a nerd, last time I checked, just meant that you focused on a certain area of expertise (and you're talented at it).

E.g: Train nerd, computer nerd, chemistry nerd.

 

[bjj hero]

I knew this would be an American study. It's the win at all cost, "America; fuck yeah" sort of attitude that paints victims of bullying as whiney, not "getting" that they are pissing people off and making themselves victims. They need to change so as to not be bullied. Heaven forbid that the popular kid everyone likes could be at fault.

It is interesting that they did not study the bullies and find out what is wrong with them that they have to use violence, intimidation and humiliation when "normal" kids can get by in a more civilised manner.

It would be nice to think that bullies finished last and end up working in fast food for eternity to pay for their sins but many don't. They end up as managers and continue their reign of terror in the office environment.

It doesn't surprise me that there are work place and school shootings in America. It surprises me that there are so few. You will notice there is no agreed profile for an school or office shooter. A lot of money has been spent on trying to find one but there has been no luck. About all the different attempts seem to agree on is that they are more likely to be, but not always, male.

That's because anyone could be that shooter under the right pressure with the right access to weapons. Schools and offices pile on plenty of pressure in an often brutal and oppressive environment.

No wonder the Victorians were so nostalgic about childhood and schooling. The reality can be too brutal to face.

 

[SeniorDingDong]

For me, the amount of getting bullied at school got reduced at every higher school form I visited. My grades improved too. I have to add, that I grew up in a bad neighborhood before visiting the college.

From a lot in Elementry and High School (or say, their german counterparts) to nothing in College of Further Education and also currently nothing at my College.

So, did I just improve my social skills somehow, or are bullies just more common to be uneducated or socially deprived assholes ? You know, I am still a nerd...