# What do you think of this solution to bullying? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 10, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319 "2015-02-10T18:53:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319/21 "2015-02-10T21:11:11Z")
The Running Man solution. I like it! ---
**Author:** ![protoboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319/22 "2015-02-10T21:11:51Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Okay, fair enough, but I think the best chance this thread has at being an interesting thread is to treat **Scumpup’s** post as a challenge. Who can come up with a proposal stupider than the OP’s? > > My second attempt: > Students should wear explosive collars, and family members should be keyed to the same pass code. When a teacher sees someone bullying, they enter the familial passcode of the bully. A random collar from the bully’s family explodes, decapitating that person. Now bullies know that their actions have consequences for other people. Win! > > How’s that: stupider than the OP? Reminds me of this: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sE3g0i2rz4w/hqdefault.jpg "10:10 No Pressure") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE3g0i2rz4w) ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319/23 "2015-02-10T21:16:53Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Okay, fair enough, but I think the best chance this thread has at being an interesting thread is to treat **Scumpup’s** post as a challenge. Who can come up with a proposal stupider than the OP’s? > > My second attempt: > Students should wear explosive collars, and family members should be keyed to the same pass code. When a teacher sees someone bullying, they enter the familial passcode of the bully. A random collar from the bully’s family explodes, decapitating that person. Now bullies know that their actions have consequences for other people. Win! > > How’s that: stupider than the OP? It’s getting there, but not quite. Eliminating teachers carrying guns means accidental firings, kids stealing them, etc, can’t happen. How about instead of explosive collars, schools hire ninjas armed with deadly laserbeam guns to track all family members? This has the added bonus of dramatically increasing spending, too. ---
**Author:** ![inedible\_knapsack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/49beb7/32.png) [@inedible\_knapsack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inedible_knapsack)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319/24 "2015-02-10T21:17:43Z")
I hope this is poorly executed satire. I was bullied in HS and I was bitter for a long time, but in retrospect, the majority of my bullies had difficult circumstances in their lives and–I assume–they needed to take it out on someone to have power over _something_. To be clear, teenagers are just a hair more advanced than your average great ape; they are ignorant, relatively powerless, they have poor impulse control, and they’re filled to bursting with new hormones (and the corresponding new emotions and urges that they poorly understand). Using deadly force on such a pitiful creature, when a little adult mentoring or guidance would correct the problem in 90% of cases? Pish posh. Furthermore, the bullying I suffered–which was brutal, humiliating and terrifying at times–ultimately had the effect of making me stronger and spurring me to great success, while most of my bullies live lives of desperation and poverty, many after spending their early lives under those exact same circumstances. Is not that a more fitting punishment? Sorry for your anger, but I’m happy we live in a world where this isn’t a viable solution. ---
**Author:** ![protoboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319/25 "2015-02-10T21:25:49Z")
> [@inedible\_knapsack](#): > > Furthermore, the bullying I suffered–which was brutal, humiliating and terrifying at times–ultimately had the effect of making me stronger and spurring me to great success, while most of my bullies live lives of desperation and poverty, many after spending their early lives under those exact same circumstances. Is not that a more fitting punishment? Wouldn’t you rather they were desperate and in poverty and in jail? IMO extreme bullying is up there with murder and rape and in certain cases, should be a capital crime. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319/26 "2015-02-10T21:30:11Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > I used to be a bleeding heart but honestly I’ve changed my mind, too many evil people in the world and it’s only getting worse. I think being mugged made me see the light. No it’s not getting worse. You had a traumatic experience and it shifted your viewpoint. You should consider that maybe it is just that you are just extremely susceptible. Have you considered the 100,000,000 times that you weren’t mugged as evidence of “not many evil people in the world and it’s only getting better”? No? Didn’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319/27 "2015-02-10T21:30:31Z")
Just on the off chance that the OP was meant at all seriously: How would this help teachers to identify bullies? If you can identify a bully, then it’s really easy to stop the bullying, and you don’t even need a gun to do it. If you can’t identify the bully, then you’ve just accidentally blown some innocent kid’s brains out. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319/28 "2015-02-10T21:37:40Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > How about you gimme your lunch money, dork! _\_ Hey! :mad: Okay, I’ve changed my mind on the shooting thing. \<_glares at **Vinyl Turnip** _\> ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319/29 "2015-02-10T21:45:25Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > Wouldn’t you rather they were desperate and in poverty and in jail? IMO extreme bullying is up there with murder and rape and in certain cases, should be a capital crime. To take you seriously for a brief moment: what do you mean by extreme bullying? In your OP you say it’s when “the victim commits suicide or it went on for years.” These are very stupid definitions of “extreme.” Suicide is a stupid criterion, because Jill might once call Tiffany a loser who nobody loves, and if Tiffany kills herself that night, you’d want the death penalty for Jill. That’s not appropriate for a single act of bullying. “Went on for years” is stupid because sometimes kids grow up together, and Jason takes a strong dislike to Bob and constantly does something obnoxious, like knocking the Bob’s hat off every day. Again, eviscerating Jason is not appropriate for that sort of thing. Then there’s Jesse, whose bullying consists of a single well-orchestrated campaign to sexually humiliate Pat in front of the entire school via social media. Jill and Jason were both obnoxious, no doubt, and should be punished. But if you consider their behavior to be the most extreme sort, more extreme than Jesse’s, you’ve got a pretty special perspective. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319/30 "2015-02-10T21:47:54Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > Wouldn’t you rather they were desperate and in poverty and in jail? IMO extreme bullying is up there with murder and rape and in certain cases, should be a capital crime. Ugh, who would prefer that? When you become as much of a jerk as your bullies, that is when they have truly won. If you let your mugger turn you into a vengeful murderous vigilante, how can you fault them for their behavior? Maybe they were created the same way, and now you’ve let their harmful actions spread. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319/31 "2015-02-10T21:52:43Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > Here are my proposals. . . . > [@msmith537](#): > > I think it’s infantile and stupid. > [@protoboard](#): > > So you feel sorry for bullies? Formal logic isn’t your strong suit, is it **protoboard**? You left out a swath of middle ground about as wide (as someone just said in the Pit) as a country mile. I detest bullying. Nevertheless, your proposals are infantile and stupid. ---
**Author:** ![protoboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319/32 "2015-02-10T21:56:52Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > Ugh, who would prefer that? > When you become as much of a jerk as your bullies, that is when they have truly won. > If you let your mugger turn you into a vengeful murderous vigilante, how can you fault them for their behavior? Maybe they were created the same way, and now you’ve let their harmful actions spread. I don’t support vigilantism I support execution and Stand Your Ground. I don’t think people should be shooting others willy-nilly, there’s still rule of law. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319/33 "2015-02-10T22:29:38Z")
So the problem is that your mugging was unauthorized? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319/34 "2015-02-11T04:24:43Z")
Love the OP but I would settle for teachers authorized to remove bullies (as seen in practice) to the principal, principals who take the matter seriously and report to the parents, and parents who give a fuck. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319/35 "2015-02-11T07:26:11Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I mean, off the top of my head, we could solve the problem by making bullies wear hats made of sparrows and then attach an extra sparrow every time they bully someone until eventually they’re carried away by the flock of sparrows. Surely that’s a stupider solution? Now, hang on - I like where you’re going with this. Are we talking African or European sparrows? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319/36 "2015-02-11T08:31:53Z")
The OP shows classic signs of abused (bullied) children. They fantasize about being something stronger than they actually are and then using that power in the most sadistic way possible against their abusers. Interesting take with the dystopian, zero tolerance society. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319/37 "2015-02-11T11:19:14Z")
I grew up in the 1950’s, we had bullies then also but the difference was that parents taught their kids not to put up with bullies regardless of who they were bullying. Bullying was not allowed to persist the way it does now because bullies simply got their asses kicked and straightened up. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319/38 "2015-02-11T11:43:05Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > The OP shows classic signs of abused (bullied) children. They fantasize about being something stronger than they actually are and then using that power in the most sadistic way possible against their abusers. We have a winner. What the OP proposed is a fantasy based on anger and powerlessness. It is not an actual solution to anything. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319/39 "2015-02-11T14:41:46Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I grew up in the 1950’s, we had bullies then also but the difference was that parents taught their kids not to put up with bullies regardless of who they were bullying. Bullying was not allowed to persist the way it does now because bullies simply got their asses kicked and straightened up. Bullshit. Back in the fifties, the “answer” to bullying was that society approved of it. If bullies beat up some kid because he was a spaz or a four-eyes or a pinko or a queer or an uppity negro, the adults around would figure the victim had deserved to get beat up. Bullying wasn’t seen as a problem; it was seen as a solution to the problem of some people acting differently from the mainstream. ---
**Author:** ![Loch\_Raven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Loch\_Raven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loch_Raven)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319/40 "2015-02-11T18:12:12Z")
I was picked on all through Elementary and Junior High School for the ultimate transgression: being different. It stopped the day I’d finally had enough and stood up to the main aggressor. No physical violence was involved, but I was ready to go that route and showed it. IMO, having kids tell an adult only worsens things, because then the kid comes off as a weakling who can’t take care of his/her own business. If I had kids, and they were being bullied, I wouldn’t hesitate a moment to tell them to stand up for themselves, including using physical violence. Even if my kid were to end up suspended because of it–hey, being suspended makes you look tough, extra bonus there. If my parents had given me that kind of permission, the harassment would’ve stopped in about second grade. As it was, it was 8th grade before I finally understood I was just going to have to fight for myself and to hell with the consequences. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-this-solution-to-bullying/712319.md?page=3)