The Art of being a jerkoff

The BBQ Pit
21

This must be an amazingly common experience with art class. I had an art teacher who did absolutely nothing to control the class (although he was a really nice guy, just completely ineffectual). I’d get threatened sometimes, but never abused like that. My sister, however, experienced severe verbal harassment from the class punks. It’s not like being beaten up and stabbed, I know, but it still makes me see red, even today.

I really like the idea of calling the cops. However, if your principal or superintendent is an asshole with a tiny brain and/or dick, be prepared for him or her to resent your undermining h(is/er) authority and trying to make trouble for you just to show that s/he’s still in control.

22

Aslan2, schedule a meeting with the principal and teacher(s) involved and your parents (the rest of this you’ll want to tell your parents about beforehand so they’re on the same page with you). Inform the principal in no uncertain terms that if you or your artwork is damaged/assaulted by anyone in that class again, there will be legal and/or criminal action taken against the school and/or perpetrators. If the principal tries to talk you down to “We’ll try to get them to stop, but we can’t promise anything” remind the principal that you have been down this road before and the shit didn’t stop. They have had their chance to play soft against the instigators. Now they will either have to play tough against same or they will find themselves with the police at school and possibly also in court. Depending on where you are there is also quite possibly legal precedent in that particular district/county for a school system to be held liable for assault it knowingly allowed to occur. I know I’ve read about several victims receiving financial compensation (and not small pennies, either) when they sued the school system for, in essence, cowtowing to the bullies.

Oh. One more thing. Document. Everything. Eyewitness accounts, logs, photographic evidence, etc. Find out if you are allowed to tape-record class. If at all possible, do.

23

Yea, I like the calling the cops idea personally, but if the principal’s already that big an asshole, you can expect him/her to be on your ass for quite a while for that stunt.

As a sidetrack, how do you get to stay home from school if you don’t want to go to art class?

24

School sucks. Fuck em. Ignore it and wait for life to really begin (it will soon enough). The most important thing I want to address here is regarding your quest for knowledge. Never let organized education discourage you from learning. Just let it change the way you learn. Your presence here on the SDMB is a great start. The only thing that matters is that you try to make yourself a better person. Always have forward motion. If people make fun of you then ignore them. Life is too short. Anyone who would mock me for the way I dress or my interests isn’t someone whose opinion matters to me anyway.

It’s a great big world out there even if it feels small when you are in HS. Don’t call the cops. You don’t have to right every wrong. You don’t have to make sure that bullies get their comeuppance. you just have to find as many good moments as you can and enjoy them while you’ve got the chance.

DaLovin’ Dj

25

Give me their names and a certian amoutn of money and I could kill whomever you want.

What? I could. I wouldn’t. On the other hand, I am a little nuts.

Actually, that sounds good. You could find yourself a club, go nuts, and just beat the living tar out of anyone you don’t like. If they want to be mean bullie, go one step further and become a vicious, brutal bastard that terrifies them. Hell, stab one or two in the nuts. The rest will probably be too frightened to fight back.

Ok, that doesn’t work either, hmmm…

Well, damned if I know. You’re probably screwed. What about your parents? Tell them there isn’t any point in school, anymore, so you aren’t going back until things are fixed. Better yet, make them homeschool you. What are they going to do, ground you? That looks like it would be a significant plus.

Sorry if I seema bit violent today, but I’ve gotten to the poit in my life where I simply DO NOT take this kind of crap. If people were to act this way to me I would crush them with pure hatred.

26

Don’t consider trying to out-bully them. As you pointed out, there are more of them, and it takes a certain kind of mind to pin someone’s hand to a table with a fountain pen, for example. I think a statement to the kids, teacher, and administration that this stops now or the police are called in and someone is arrested would be helpful.

27

I had a pathetic excuse for an art teacher too. An evil, psychotic, imbalanced, favoritism showing horse faced bitch that used an acrylic based make-up applied with a putty knife. A talentless hack that felt teaching art was best completed through slide shows rather than actually getting up in front of the class to prove what a talentless shit smearer she actually was. She was the first one in her family born without a tail, and her uncle, the feces flinging monkey, had more talent in the poop chunk stuck inbetween his teeth than she had in her entire body.

Hrm. Upon further reflection, it still feels good to 20 years after the fact to spit out some vitriol on that wench’s behalf. I suspect she’s either off somewhere pissin herself and droolin into a cup, or pushin up daisies by now, but I find myself not caring one iota.

You’ll survive this tough time Aslan2, simply since you clearly have some integrity and intelligence. I feel for you, but I can’t think of any earth shattering suggestions to help you through. All I can say is don’t do what I did. I gave up art for good. That is something that hurts me more than the memories of the pricks and slack-jaws I went to high school with. I don’t give them a thought, I’ve done what I should be doing, gaining revenge by living a happy and fulfilling, and sometimes exciting life where I have accomplished things on the business side, but more importantly, been damn happy with my life, family, and friends.

It still pisses me off that the teacher was that way. As you get older, you’ll see that sometimes the worthless steaming piles of shit that are attending school with you now, turn out to be worthless steaming piles of shit with teaching jobs. If you realize that, it helps make things clearer.

Let the art drop for now, but pick it back up on the first opportunity. I still paint, tinker, play bass, etc… But I truly regret that because of that shriveled up shitstain I chose to deny myself an opportunity of proessional training when I had it.

28

This is slightly passive aggressive…but legally effective. But a blank composition notebook and keep it like a journal. Everytime something happens to you, write who did it, what happened, the date/time/class, if you told the teacher, what the teacher said, what the teacher did, and how it made you feel. Do it every time.

If you have to see the prioncipal, make the appointment, and document everything in your notebook after: what was said, what was done. Write up the pain and dread you feel; how it ruins the classes you love. (Never let them get their hands on it though)

And then, when you have a lot already, when someone punches you…excuse yourself to the nurse…walk to a payphone…and call the cops. Talk to the cops…get badge numbers & names: write them down. Write down what they do also. If the problem goes away, fine. If not, look up lawyers in the phone book whose offices you can walk to. Make an appointment. Bring the journal. Ask them if they’d be willing to work on a contingency basis. Then, take the school for all they’ve got…

29

j_kat_251, I strongly advise you to never quote me almost verbatim when openly suggesting that a person engage in criminal activity. Substituting lye based drain opener for a simple laxative represents an attempt to do serious harm to another person.

Reposting my words with a minor substitution that utterly changes the meaning and intent of my gist is a sure way to get reported to the moderators. While you did not attribute the quote to me, you placed it in the context of a quote and utilized the exact same format of the excerpt from my own post. This represents a grievous insult to me and I take extreme umbrage at your actions.

I urge you to post both my own quote and yours in this thread once more with complete clarification as to your responsibility for this plus a full and sincere apology. Your doing so is the only possible way to ameliorate this situation. If you are unable to do this right away, I will not urge the moderators to relent in any way relating to this offense.

I refer you to some subsequent posts in the thread in order that you may get some idea of the implications resulting from your unethical conduct.

[sup]BOLDING ADDED[/sup]

Please note the repercussions of your handiwork.

[sup]BOLDING ADDED[/sup]

atarian, please retract your comments about my suggestion in this thread. Ex-Lax is a common laxative, which a 90 MILLISECOND GOOGLE SEARCH would have shown you. Attempting to construe my post as a recommendation that someone poison people is a serious violation of the rules. Please post an immediate apology for having done so.

Ex-Lax is an uncontrolled substance that is sold over the counter. A person who has had cough drops stolen from their purse could no more be charged with intent to harm than someone who had laxative laced chocolates forcibly taken from them.

One more time, j_kat_251, you can clearly see the after effects of what you have done. You are now on notice to post your clarification and sincere apology immediately.

Aslan2, since this is your thread, I’ll ask you to please post your own feelings about what I have outlined here. Sorry for the hijack, but I refuse to let something like this slide by the boards.

30

Aslan2 you have my deepest empathy. I know exactly where you are, been there. :frowning: Exactly there, except with me I had bruises every day, and was flung across the room by big football playing jocks. (I was all of 109 pounds or so, and female) I know the pain of your art work “disappearing” never to be seen again, and your other assignments going missing too. Hang in there, get counseling. Don’t let them cheat you out of an education. Grit your teeth if you can and finish school, but if staying in that school is too hazerdous, then leave that one. Just don’t let them swamp you to the point you can hold your chin up, and are so depressed you can’t do your school work. :frowning: (I know a monumental task, but possible with counseling to help.)

Maybe look into a mail order course like PCDI (Professional Career Development Institute) to get your diploma? See if your local college would let you take art courses there, while you get your diploma? This is what my husband is currently doing. It costs $40 a month, but is MUCH better than going into that abyss that passes for a school in this town. Don’t know if this is something that would work for you or not.

I’m going to suggest a course of action to you that I felt I did not really have. Probably didn’t, we were poor, it was over a decade ago, and bullying was much more tolerated then. I too, despaired because I felt it could not be “proved”. Use this as a last ditch effort, go to a mental health expert, get your depression and fear etc. of going to school documented by them. (I’d do the first part anyway.) Then go to an attorney. Have your attorney contact the school and inform them that they will sue them into oblivion if the assualts do not stop. See how quickly the sit up and take notice then.

This has to stop. You have the right to an education, and they ARE intefering with that right BIG TIME. The school knows of the problem, but has not gotten on the ball and taken the proper course of action. Dig up your student handbook, I’d wager that there is a stiff penalty for assault in it, and that rule is not being enforced in this case. That’s a subtle form of discrimination IMO, it goes beyond a clueless principal. (Poor vs. Rich, the Rich scream louder, so get treated with “kid gloves”.)

I’d seriously consider seeing if an attorney would take your case pro bono to get this stopped. Keep it an open option at the least.

Good Luck ((** Aslan2**))

31

Grrr. Lemme at 'em, Aslan2. I’m meaner than any punk ass 14 year old. Those chumps won’t be able to bother you with broken legs. But seriously, call the cops, dude. If you do that, the school and those little bastids will be scared shitless. My initial advice was to break their noses, but since I see these boys are tough stuff, I’d advise that you don’t try to mess 'em up a little. Call the police.

32

** Aslan2** Upon seeing that they told you to stay home, rather than take care of a student getting assualted my immediate suggestion is to GET TO A LAWYER NOW and sue them into oblivion. Don’t put up with anymore crap. They ARE discriminating, and legally they have no leg to stand on. You have a right to an education, they HAVE to ensure your safety, and they are not. :mad: :mad: :mad:

In my case, the principal really was clueless and overwhelmed. He had no clue how to handle it, he was over 80, and was nearly shocked into a heart attack a time or two when I told him what happened. I should have gone to the school board, and had the students kicked out of the school, but I did not fully understand my rights back then.

33

Also, start calling the school board, superintendent, and every outlet of local news that exists in your area on top of calling the cops and lawyer. Bad publicity for the school may be the only way to get any meaningful changes to happen at your school. You’re definitely not the only person who’s getting harrassed like that, believe me. Those punks probably have someone they pick on in every single one of their classes.

34

I’d let the attorney take care of calling the schoolboard etc. They know better how to say things in such a way that the school board has not question as to what is required to resolve this. Do document things, but MAKE SURE TO DO IT OUT OF SIGHT, on a pocket notebook you keep on you so they can’t take it and destroy it.

35

Drat it, to continue with my post. I had my notes stolen by my tormentors and destroyed in front of my face. I did start keeping notes of exactly what was done by whom, and what was said, and if the teacher saw it etc. MAKE SURE they can’t get their hands on them.

36

Ok, this won’t help you much but reading this stirred some feelings in me. First of all, i’m eighteen now and through the ages of 8-15 I was mostly scared of the “stronger” kids and since they can see fear I was physically and verbally abused without daring to fight back because of being scared of what would happen then. When I became a teen there was also the situation where I would let myself be physically abused by someone weaker than me because I was afraid of what his friends might do if I tried to fight back. Once you let them get you once there’s a long road of abuse ahead.

This is not what the “responsible adults” would say and in the long run it’s probably not good advice but, if I could go back to those years I would instead of cower fight back like a maniac. I mean going totally crazy physically and doing whatever I could to hurt them. The beatings I would have gotten would have hurt but the advantages would by far outweigh, first of all I would have made clear that I would never accept being stepped which would have spared me the pain of being constantly scared at school and it would have brought attention to the matter that the weaker kids, not only me, were victims to the stronger ones. Honestly I can’t see any, except possibly giving someone permanent injuries, consequences that would have been worse than that feeling of being scared every damn day. Holding feelings of anger and humiliation inside for years on end will come back to haunt you sooner or later, it might just turn you into an unpleasant person.

I hated going to school all those years and I know there were others like me, even those who had it worse, where were the adults and teachers? Who the hell knows but I can’t remember them really doing something about more than isolated incidents, how about doing something proper and actually solve the obvious problem of the weaker kids being bullied? Oh, but maybe we were just “playing”, yeah that’s it! When a kid is pushed down into the gravel and mud so he starts bleeding by a classmate they are “playing”.

Nowadays it seems like i’m almost looking for someone to attack me or drive me to fight back, stupidly it seems as if I want to “repair” my weakness back then with fighting back viciously now. I should probably go see a psychologist or something because I know I would have no regret of beating these people, or, perhaps someone else who I thought “deserved it”, that did this to me now even years later.

In a way maybe they have won as I always thought non violent was the way to go, they were the losers and their punishment would come in due time. Guess what, we finished school and off we went, they were the happy ones and I was the real loser since my grades had dropped because of hating being at school not to mention the pain of being in a abusing situation where I felt powerless to do anything but wait it out. Don’t become like me, fight back in any way possible, judging from your story maybe physical violence is not your cup of tea but do something else that is drastic. These jerks are stepping on you and assaulting you, go ballistic now before it’s to late!

37

Wille They’d be more likely to expel Aslan if he did that. :frowning: Sad, but most likely true. The kid’s parents are “squeaky wheels”.

38

Aslan2 , lots of good ideas in this thread. I like the idea of going to the media. The Vancouver Sun would love to run something like this.

This is SERIOUS. Kids in the greater Vancouver Area have killed themselves over bullying. Whatever you do, Aslan2, never forget - “this too shall pass”. Go to Art College. Emily Carr has an excellent program. It if full of fantastic students who enjoy creating art and supporting each other. Life is not remotely like high school. Use your support network, here and around home. Lean on your freinds.

Yikes!

I’m heading over to your area next week. Can I drop by your school and scare the shit out of your principle? “Mr. Principle, I’m from the Vancouver Sun, and I understand that you have an out of control bullying situation in your school. Care to comment?” Or I could pose as your lawyer: “Ms. Art Teacher, when I serve you with papers, would you like them delivered here or to your home? And how much is your home worth by the way?”

39

Yeah I suppose so, but seeing the situation I was in then violence among students was very common and nothing was done about it. Common things like small punches, kicks, pushing, verbal abuse etc. I even remember when a guy broke his hand hitting another in the face and guess what, life went on as usual at the following lesson. The staff must have been clueless or just pretending they didn’t see, probably different circumstances for each teacher. But they really had no view into what happened in corridors and on the schoolgroudn when they werenät looking.

By the way I live in Sweden if that matters, I suppose suing and getting expelled is more common in America and the UK. Then again maybe I watch to much crappy TV and base my assumptions on Fresh Prince and Family Matters.

40

Willie Read my first post in this thread, I know just what you two have been through. I went through it myself. I still recommend going about it the legal way. “Wrap your ass in paper” unfortunately works better than other ways. My brother who was in the Navy taught me that one, and I did not fully understand what he meant until I got out in the adult world. :frowning: