Tackling bullying could help reduce depression in autistic teens

[Shamar]

(Not written by me)
Teenagers with difficulties in social communication, including autism have higher rates of depressive symptoms, especially if they are being bullied.

Well, DUH!! Perhaps next they can get a grant for a study to confirm that when you drop a bowling ball on your toes it hurts.

 

[DuckRabbit]

Getting teachers and faculty that arent dumber than stumps is the first step, as far as I see it. [.....] People are dumb.

People can be naive, oblivious and ignorant but they can also be very shrewd and know exactly which side their bread is buttered on. Perhaps they choose not to intervene depending on who's funding the school, who they need to keep in with, who they fear backlash from. That is the unfairness of bullying in that some is miraculously noticed and stopped while other bullying goes unnoticed, depending on social-political alignments.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

Well, DUH!! Perhaps next they can get a grant for a study to confirm that when you drop a bowling ball on your toes it hurts.

Further experimentation required.

Volunteers needed.

 

[Shamar]

Further experimentation required.

Volunteers needed.

Perhaps they can induce the bullies to be volunteer subjects. Karma.

 

[onlything]

When it comes to bullying in school, well...

My thoughts on it are simple: Get the almost-always-useless faculty to, you know, ACTUALLY FREAKING DO SOMETHING.

When I was in school, I was always baffled by that. Absolutely baffled. The bullying was OBVIOUS despite it not being the physical "steal your lunch money" sort. And I dont mean " obvious when it was happening to me". I mean "when it was happening anywhere". I could watch others being pushed around in very obvious ways, FREQUENTLY, yet the often braindead teachers and other faculty were so airheaded that they seemed to genuinely not notice (even during the times when it literally happened in the same very small room as them; it was actually pretty darned rare for bullies to have a chance to do it WITHOUT faculty around in that school). And this wasnt like, subtle stuff either, the bullies were not bright enough for that. It was pretty blatant. But I dont remember even one time when those useless oafs actually did their bloody job by intervening. No, no... I do remember ONE time where the faculty intervened. One. But that was because I *forced* them to do so... they wouldnt have otherwise.

Getting teachers and faculty that arent dumber than stumps is the first step, as far as I see it.

Unless things have changed since I was in school. Perhaps stealth bullying is a thing now, with ninjas pulling victims into the shadows to shove them around, I have no idea.


Now, as for stuff like cyber-bullying... that one is on the PARENTS to not be utter useless morons. CONTROL YOUR FREAKING KIDS WHEN THEY'RE ONLINE! Pay some bloody attention to what they're doing and what's happening with them. If they've got a social account? Watch it yourself! If they dont like that? TOO BAD!

You get those two things working in a less sucktastic way.... teachers and parents... and ALOT of trouble will vanish, because it wont have a chance to start without bullies getting in trouble instantly. Good luck making that actually happen though. People are dumb.


Now, that's all with traditional bullying, which was and is still very frequent. When it comes to the idea of exclusion, well... heck if I know. I hated everyone in schoolc anyway, so I refused to join any groups. I still think that way today.

The thing is not for the staff and parents to be more intelligent or competent but for them to start actually caring about what'shappening in the children's lives. With care about them will come willingness to learn and with this - the experience and knowledge that will give way to competence. It's not that the teachers are too dumb to realise the bullying is happening or that the parents are too stupid to realise what the child is doing online - it's that they are unwilling to do so.

That or, what's worse, they approve.

 

[kay]

I was bullied by teachers. What would have helped me would have been some instruction on how to handle being bullied and not feeling like I was all alone with it. Not only did I not realize until later grades that others were picked on, too, but I had to deal with by myself. I grew up during the time of,"sticks and stones will break your bones but words will never hurt you" and 'you just have to let kids sort it out themselves" . Not at all helpful particularly when the teachers join in. I did have it easy though, I never was beat up.

 

[Shamar]

I was bullied by teachers. What would have helped me would have been some instruction on how to handle being bullied and not feeling like I was all alone with it. Not only did I not realize until later grades that others were picked on, too, but I had to deal with by myself. I grew up during the time of,"sticks and stones will break your bones but words will never hurt you" and 'you just have to let kids sort it out themselves" . Not at all helpful particularly when the teachers join in. I did have it easy though, I never was beat up.

I learned early on two very important rules for school:
1.) Never ask teachers a question if they don't know the answer.
2.) Never point out when the teacher gives contradictory information.

 

[Nitro]

I learned early on two very important rules for school:
1.) Never ask teachers a question if they don't know the answer.

How does one determine this statement?

 

[Shamar]

How does one determine this statement?

Sometimes obvious, sometimes just a guess. Keet your mouth shut if not sure.

 

[Nitro]

Sometimes obvious, sometimes just a guess. Keet your mouth shut if not sure.

So it's just a coin toss.

How is that helpful?

 

[Shamar]

So it's just a coin toss.

How is that helpful?

Use your gut instinct. If a teacher doesn't seem to know what he is talking about, there is a pretty good possibility that he doesn't know what he is talking about. These types seem to have an inflated opinion of themselves, and are especially offended by questions they don't know the answer to. They seem to be more common in social sciences and economics.

If a teacher says one thing and shortly after says the opposite, I consider that a contradiction. Again, they seem offended when this is pointed out.

 

[Nitro]

Use your gut instinct. If a teacher doesn't seem to know what he is talking about, there is a pretty good possibility that he doesn't know what he is talking about. These types seem to have an inflated opinion of themselves, and are especially offended by questions they don't know the answer to. They seem to be more common in social sciences and economics.

If a teacher says one thing and shortly after says the opposite, I consider that a contradiction. Again, they seem offended when this is pointed out.

So in other words, you do have to ask a question just to know how they will respond.

I still don't see how that would work.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

So in other words, you do have to ask a question just to know how they will respond.

I still don't see how that would work.

No question was asked in this part :

If a teacher says one thing and shortly after says the opposite, I consider that a contradiction. Again, they seem offended when this is pointed out

 

[Nitro]

No question was asked in this part :

That part is simple.


This part is confusing me:
1.) Never ask teachers a question if they don't know the answer.

How will you automatically know whether or not they know the answer without first asking them a question?

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

That part is simple.


This part is confusing me:
1.) Never ask teachers a question if they don't know the answer.

How will you automatically know whether or not they know the answer without first asking them a question?

Hah, now I'm with you

I guess if they've contradicted themselves already, you could guess.

I know the gist of what @Shamar is saying.

Or does that mean I've added my own non literal interpretation as I had a similar experience ?

Superpowers would clarify it.

 

[Nitro]

Hah, now I'm with you

I guess if they've contradicted themselves already, you could guess.

I know the gist of what @Shamar is saying.

Or does that mean I've added my own non literal interpretation as I had a similar experience ?

Superpowers would clarify it.

I don't get the gist of it, or I wouldn't have questioned it.

In other words, it's a crap shoot and not a lot more.

 

[Nitro]

I was taught that the dumb questions are the ones that don't get asked.

It is up to you as the individual to question the answer provided as to whether or not it holds substance or requires further investigation if you don't totally agree with it.


My point being that in order to determine if a question gets answered properly, it needs to be first asked.

If you have never met this person and have no idea about what they do or don't know, how can you just eyeball them to determine that?

 

[Shamar]

I was taught that the dumb questions are the ones that don't get asked.

It is up to you as the individual to question the answer provided as to whether or not it holds substance or requires further investigation if you don't totally agree with it.


My point being that in order to determine if a question gets answered properly, it needs to be first asked.

If you have never met this person and have no idea about what they do or don't know, how can you just eyeball them to determine that?

Your points are valid when considered in light of dealing with strangers or new acquaintances. A student will generally get to know a teacher, and develop a sense of whether or not that teacher knows the subject.

In elementary school, teachers seem to teach from the book, and not have any real knowledge of the subject. An example was in fourth grade science. The teacher gave the lesson and I saw an error in the lesson (I was the class science wiz). I pointed it out, and the teacher's response was "Do you think you know more than the book?" and earned a tic in the grade book in the "Arrogant Wiseguy" column.

It was similar in college. I would ask a professor about a different opinion from another authority and get a nearly rabid rant that could be summarized as "I'm right and anyone who disagrees is wrong!" with no actual facts or information to back it up. Things were a bit different in the hard sciences, where I would either get a resolution or the reply that he would get back on that.

The original statements that started this were really warnings to be careful about people, especially teachers, with arrogant overinflated opinions about their own importance. They tend to bully students.

 

[Nitro]

I see your point, but if taken literally, it does say to not ask questions if the teacher doesn't know the answer, not someone who has proven to be highly opinionated about a subject based on their track record.

 

[aspieoutlaw89]

Not weapons Mr F,

Self defence?
Law?

A belief in themselves,
Just because another child judges and labels, doesn’t automatically make it true.

There are probably techie terms for all of this but my memory thinks it’s a uk bank holiday and hasn’t come into work today.

Self-Defense (Martial Arts,Mixed Martial Arts) to physically prep themselves for potentially fatal social encounters.