I'm not trying to be racist but is bullying more of a white middle america thing? are you sure it's actually as universal as you think it is?
because in my black/hispanic/white elementary school I had only 1 instance which could even be called bullying, which was really this socially maybe-on-the-spectrum kid who enjoyed chasing me because he liked running, and when I stopped running away from him he stopped too
in my very Asian high school we basically had no bullies
which is a very big contrast to how I hear people constantly talking about how much they hated high school
Bullying exists outside of white middle America. I went to school in Baltimore for a time and there were plenty of bullies. One day as I was waiting for the bus one of the other kids decided that they were going to run back and forth and slap me in the face as they ran past because they didn't like me, had a kid threaten to kill me and constantly tried to attack me on my way home from the bus stop. It was bad enough that my mother found a new job and moved us elsewhere.
When I lived in Japan some jackass took my school shoes from the shelf. I don't know what I did to them, but they clearly didn't like something I did so in the most passive aggressive thing they could do, they fucked with me. The teachers didn't give a damn, just told me to wear shoes that were like half my size. Culturally Japan has had severe bullying issues that became a very public conscious debate in the 2010s where multiple high profile deaths of students from bullying occurred because the bullying was horrific and teachers would tacitly endorse it.
I was an undiagnosed autist with zero social cred to my name, but a lot of my POC peers in high school treated me like I was normal. I always assumed it had something to do with the ways that they had also been otherized by the predominantly white demographic of our school. Looking back, some of our interactions were definitely teasing that I didn't recognize as such, but my black friends were the only ones who ever stepped in when I was being bullied - especially when it was being done by an authority figure such as a teacher.
It wasn't like there weren't white kids who were nice to me, too, but it seems like people who have been cast as "the other" tend to feel an often unspoken sense of comradery. I was treated pretty well by the gay kids, the compsci geeks, the back-of-class stoners, the artist-types, etc. It's sort of like when you're in the grocery line and the dude in front of you is an asshole to the cashier - if you've ever worked retail, chances are you'll be as warm and friendly to that cashier as possible when it's your turn to check out. Experience breeds empathy.
Yeah same for high school, if you wanted it you could be friendly with anyone even with people from opposing gangs. The only time i got bullied was in elementary because i was the only white kid and all my friends fell out of the system someway or another.
I'm not trying to be racist but is bullying more of a white middle america thing? are you sure it's actually as universal as you think it is?
because in my black/hispanic/white elementary school I had only 1 instance which could even be called bullying, which was really this socially maybe-on-the-spectrum kid who enjoyed chasing me because he liked running, and when I stopped running away from him he stopped too
in my very Asian high school we basically had no bullies
which is a very big contrast to how I hear people constantly talking about how much they hated high school
Bullying exists outside of white middle America. I went to school in Baltimore for a time and there were plenty of bullies. One day as I was waiting for the bus one of the other kids decided that they were going to run back and forth and slap me in the face as they ran past because they didn't like me, had a kid threaten to kill me and constantly tried to attack me on my way home from the bus stop. It was bad enough that my mother found a new job and moved us elsewhere.
When I lived in Japan some jackass took my school shoes from the shelf. I don't know what I did to them, but they clearly didn't like something I did so in the most passive aggressive thing they could do, they fucked with me. The teachers didn't give a damn, just told me to wear shoes that were like half my size. Culturally Japan has had severe bullying issues that became a very public conscious debate in the 2010s where multiple high profile deaths of students from bullying occurred because the bullying was horrific and teachers would tacitly endorse it.
Speaking from personal experience I can definitely assure you that bullying happens in POC communities and schools too.
I can't even picture a school experience without social hierarchies.
I was an undiagnosed autist with zero social cred to my name, but a lot of my POC peers in high school treated me like I was normal. I always assumed it had something to do with the ways that they had also been otherized by the predominantly white demographic of our school. Looking back, some of our interactions were definitely teasing that I didn't recognize as such, but my black friends were the only ones who ever stepped in when I was being bullied - especially when it was being done by an authority figure such as a teacher.
It wasn't like there weren't white kids who were nice to me, too, but it seems like people who have been cast as "the other" tend to feel an often unspoken sense of comradery. I was treated pretty well by the gay kids, the compsci geeks, the back-of-class stoners, the artist-types, etc. It's sort of like when you're in the grocery line and the dude in front of you is an asshole to the cashier - if you've ever worked retail, chances are you'll be as warm and friendly to that cashier as possible when it's your turn to check out. Experience breeds empathy.
Yeah same for high school, if you wanted it you could be friendly with anyone even with people from opposing gangs. The only time i got bullied was in elementary because i was the only white kid and all my friends fell out of the system someway or another.