By Tom Dodge
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-491901.mp3
Dallas, TX –
A new study says that school bullies and their victims are psychologically distressed or imbued with sadness. Of course the victim is sad. His bicycle tires are flat, his glasses are smashed, and his pants are in the tree. With all due respect to the researchers, I suspect that bullying is simply a matter of the Darwinian imperative. The bully isn't sad. He feels great. He has demonstrated his physical and territorial dominance after being shown up all day long in school, either by the kid with all the answers or the kid with the expensive designer clothes. Sometimes, they just enjoy torture, like a cat entertaining itself with a half-dead mouse.
Bullying occurs as a natural process throughout all species. I used to see it in our chicken coop. One rooster always emerged as the literal cock of the walk and a hierarchy even existed among the hens, depending on size, colorful plumage, and proximity to the dominant rooster. Even the word, bully derives from the barnyard behavior of the dominant bull. I suspect that some form of dominance occurs even among spirogyra and ameba, the simplest form of animal life. These researchers themselves, as intellectuals, were probably bullied in school and are possibly exacting a bit of revenge through their intellectual status.
My own experience with bullies left me with no bitterness toward them. I learned early, in the first grade, that to survive I might have to use my fists but only after cooperation and negotiation failed. Even the ritual of getting to the playground first or lining up for the water fountain brought out boys' urge toward dominance. A lot of shoving and elbowing went on. I noted but did not really care that the boys with the knotty fists always won on the playground. They generally left me alone for two reasons. I was lucky to be good in sports and I tried never to make them look bad in class. Winning or being first meant nothing to me. I was an only child.
Victims of bullying, the smart ones anyway, usually grow up and take satisfaction in discovering new planets or the cure for polio. They're little Rudolphs, biding their time until their brightness is needed. But, sometimes, they want revenge.
Tragically, nowadays, when revenge takes over in youth, guns can get involved. But it's usually postponed, as in the case of Arnold Schwarzenegger. He made himself some big muscles. When this wasn't enough he went into politics and ridiculed the "girlymen." Leveling this one word at his foes seems to have satisfied Arnold.
But one who seems not to know when to stop is the President's advisor, Karl Rove. Little Karl knew all the answers in school but the bullies busted his glasses and wouldn't let him play reindeer games. So he grew up and guided Santa's sleigh through the fog, and then all the reindeer loved him. There must be a lot of satisfaction involved here, to exert control over the big man on campus and therefore over all the popular boys that put their cigarettes out in your sandwich. But one problem with revenge is that for the smartest kid in class it's too easy and too sweet. Addiction takes over and you lose everything.
Children should be taught to study their science and understand that dominance can shift in time, topsy-turvy. Forget resentment and revenge.
Stay cool.
Tom Dodge is a writer from Midlothian.
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