Books, Girls and Bullying.
I just finished reading a YA book called Freak by Marcella Pixley. (I got a number of YA books out of the library today, because the teen room, unlike every other area containing fiction in the library, is on the first floor and therefore does not require an eternally broken elevator for access.) The book was very good and very painful for three-
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And most of the time, bullies know that there AREN'T consequences. Other kids tend to obey the herd instinct and let the kid who's being bullied go hang, because speaking up will attract the bullies' attention, and not in a good way. And teachers have a distinct tendency to side with the bullies against the bullies' victims, either mocking the kids who are being bullied, telling them not to fight back, berating the kids for not admitting what they're doing to inspire such anger ("They're not picking on you--you're picking on THEM!"), or just turning and looking in the opposite direction when they see bullying occurring. One thing that I learned quite early--say, around the age of eight--was that teachers and administrators could not be counted on to support a victim of bullying. Individuals might help, but as groups...never.
Fortunately, I had a very tough mother and an equally tough aunt who expected me to fight bullies any way I had to, and who backed me up in front of numerous cowardly school administrations.
"You do what it takes to stay alive," my aunt told me. "You put that first. Forget about being a lady. If they try to hurt you, you hurt them."
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