Teacher orders kindergarteners to beat up class "bully"

[senordesol]

Not that it matters much in this case, but I'm kinda interested in knowing just what the punching bag did to spur a teacher to arrange a slugfest.

Still though, it's very difficult to imagine a teacher doing that. Surely she knew she would get so much flak for this. It's just insane. Yeah bullies may deserve a good thrashing every now and again, but an organized public beatdown is a bit over the top. He's just a little kid, regardless of what he did. Come on.

 

[ChildishLegacy]

As for anyone who says that bullies can only be stopped by being bullied, shame on you. Revenge solves nothing, and you can't fix hate and intolerance with more hate and intolerance.

Spoiler

Bullies gain amusement and respect form the tyranny they can force upon others. If they can do this for free indefinitely they will. In my experience the only thing that will grant the victim security is by establishing that violence will be met by violence.

OT: I don't think this is the best way of handling it, the teacher may be hard pressed to be certain about what's going on and I'd hate to think what might happen if the individual in question turned out to be innocent.

Really, you're comparing not hitting a bully to appeasement of the Nazis?
Last time I checked, toddlers weren't on the verge of systematic genocide and invasion.

I mean for gods sake, a lot of kids at that age aren't aware that other people are even people, they aren't aware of morality or consequence, how good of an induction to their start in "the real world" (by that I mean starting to interact with other people than your parents) is being cracked open like a pinata, for all he knows, he did nothing wrong, and nobody explained what he did wrong, the person who was supposed to be supervising them just ordered the class to mob him.

Maybe if it was explained to him that his actions were hurtful to others then he'd even feel very upset about it, but as you said, causing him unexplained pain and promoting a culture of violence and revenge is the best way.

 

[game-lover]

Oh dear...

Wrong tactic. Wrong, wrong tactic.

 

[CODE-D]

I approve of this.....and daycare death matches......can I haz daycare death matches peez?

 

[Relish in Chaos]

I don't know what that teacher had up her butt to compel her to do this kind of shit. That is not to way to deal with bullying involving six-year-olds (or whatever age they were).

 

[spartan231490]

I'm not terribly against what happened. Bullies only speak one language, and that's the only way to get them to stop. That said, ordering 24 kids to hit him repeatedly in a line is going a little too far, especially since they aren't saying much about what kind of bullying this kid was accused of.

Odd observation, is it just me, or do bullies seem to start earlier and earlier? I don't recall any bullying occurring in my school until the 4rth grade, and now I'm hearing all about bullying as young as kindergarten.

 

[Rowan93]

If the kid was a bully then he deserved it and I see nothing wrong here. Bullies will only stop when they realized there are consequences and I think this kid just learned to stop.

Well, no, now he's learned that when people - even grown-ups! - try to impose consequences on him, they end up in trouble.

 

[Palademon]

This pleases sadistic Pala!

But nice Pala thinks it was way too much for someone that age.

 

[Risingblade]

This is not how you teach kindergarteners not to be douches...

 

[FernandoV]

I'm not surprised that in this new "anti-bullying" environment that people are growining up in, that eventually something like this would happen. Blame your media just as much as you should blame this teacher.

 

[Aprilgold]

Well damn, that is pretty neat.

While some bullies have problems at home, I'm willing to bet a majority do not and instead they make problems for students at home and at school. I was bullied to almost hanging myself for one of those tossers and while I still regret letting myself fall to that point I still want to give that kid nine black eyes for putting me through that.

Is a organized mass beating wrong is like asking if any fighting is right and I would still say no fighting is right, but this is the only way to really sink it through to kids.

As a child we all learned, one way or another to get out of problems. The most common thing is to ignore what you are being told and just say yes when you think their asking a question or telling you to do something. It is no different with bullies. The only way to get through to them is to break down that invincible wall of their invincibility and your on your way to a better life for you both.

 

[Kiardras]

I want to be against this on an intellectual level, but as someone who had to deal with bullies for 5 years, I just can't bring myself to have any sympathy for the little shit.

 

[Eamar]

Holy crap, I know bullying is a touchy subject here but... people are condoning this? Really? I can imagine wanting to do that, perhaps, or backing up the bullied kids if they'd gone and hit the kid back themselves, but for a professional teacher to actually follow through with it... I'm sorry but that is never acceptable. Thank god you people aren't running schools.

Also the kid is six frickin' years old. This isn't some shithead teenager who could probably do with a good smack. He's very much still at an age where his behaviour could be corrected in a less extreme way. I knew a kid who was a bully at that age. He got punished for it in non-violent ways, was kept away from the kids he was bullying, and eventually he learned how to behave. He's actually a lovely young man now. This kid isn't the bully who made highschool hell for you, he's a young child. Quite possibly a bit of a shit, sure, but again:

six years old

Sheesh.

 

[gazumped]

Speaking from experience, you don't stop a bully with kindness and analysis. You stop them by standing on their neck and telling them not to fuck with you again.

I dunno, maybe I grew up in a particularly screwed up area but most of the troublemakers at my school it turned out were the ones who got beaten by their parents or left alone by their parents while they were going out and getting drunk, or just got plain sexually molested by their parents.

Okay this one might have turned out to just be a brat, but what if this was one of those bullies who bullies because they are bullied? Think you might actually get somewhere a lot quicker with kindness than with just giving them more of the treatment they get at home.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

I doubt he'll be bullying the kid again.

Speaking from experience, you don't stop a bully with kindness and analysis. You stop them by standing on their neck and telling them not to fuck with you again.

Standing on a six year old's neck and yelling at them? This is acceptable to you?

When you yourself are a six year old... sure.

And being forced by a teacher to do it, even if you don't want to? That's the lesson we want to teach?

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

I think the teacher showed the students an important lesson in why they are stronger if they stand together against bullies. He has the muscles but they have the numbers

In all seriousness though having a teacher promote child on child violence is irresponsible and down right deplorable. Bullying is a problem that teachers should not ignore but are certainly much better ways of dealing with it. Although admittedly if I was the parent of a child who was being bullied I would probably advise him and his mates to jump the bully and give him a beating but then I not a teacher who is given responsibility over other peoples children. Its that trust that the parents place on schools when the children are in the school's care that this teacher has broken by her actions.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

Holy crap, I know bullying is a touchy subject here but... people are condoning this? Really? I can imagine wanting to do that, perhaps, or backing up the bullied kids if they'd gone and hit the kid back themselves, but for a professional teacher to actually follow through with it... I'm sorry but that is never acceptable. Thank god you people aren't running schools.

Also the kid is six frickin' years old. This isn't some shithead teenager who could probably do with a good smack. He's very much still at an age where his behaviour could be corrected in a less extreme way. I knew a kid who was a bully at that age. He got punished for it in non-violent ways, was kept away from the kids he was bullying, and eventually he learned how to behave. He's actually a lovely young man now. This kid isn't the bully who made highschool hell for you, he's a young child. Quite possibly a bit of a shit, sure, but again:

six years old

Sheesh.

Finally, someone actually considering the age of the kid. I was wondering if I was going crazy for thinking about that.

 

[Yopaz]

I was bullied a lot when I was growing up and I do not approve of this. After all the pain I have had to suffer I still think that what the teacher did was wrong.

It's great because the bully get to see what it's like for his victims? No. This is bad because it encourages bullying as a solution. These kids have now learned the lesson that they should bully someone of they get bullied.

I am also against violence as a way to discipline children.

 

[Samurai Silhouette]

Oh god, if this was my kid, I'd find the teacher off school grounds.

 

[Eamar]

Holy crap, I know bullying is a touchy subject here but... people are condoning this? Really? I can imagine wanting to do that, perhaps, or backing up the bullied kids if they'd gone and hit the kid back themselves, but for a professional teacher to actually follow through with it... I'm sorry but that is never acceptable. Thank god you people aren't running schools.

Also the kid is six frickin' years old. This isn't some shithead teenager who could probably do with a good smack. He's very much still at an age where his behaviour could be corrected in a less extreme way. I knew a kid who was a bully at that age. He got punished for it in non-violent ways, was kept away from the kids he was bullying, and eventually he learned how to behave. He's actually a lovely young man now. This kid isn't the bully who made highschool hell for you, he's a young child. Quite possibly a bit of a shit, sure, but again:

six years old

Sheesh.

Finally, someone actually considering the age of the kid. I was wondering if I was going crazy for thinking about that.

Yeah, it's pretty disturbing. I can only hope most of the people commenting didn't read the full article, otherwise... damn :S

I remember being six years old. I was very much still learning how to interact with people, and how other people reacted to my behaviour (though I was never a "bully", I'm sure I probably upset some other kids pretty badly, with or without knowing it). That doesn't fully excuse bullying, but it sure as hell doesn't make the kid an irredeemable piece of scum that needs his behaviour beaten out of him >.<