A Connecticut television station recently reported that a 12-year-old boy brought a BB gun and slingshot into school to protect himself from bullies. The report came just ahead of a state conference on bullying that concluded that a quarter of Connecticut students had been victims of bullying.
This, in the minds of many, is cause for alarm. Bullying is the current cause célèbre in American schools, right behind our souring scores in science and mathematics. If you're a parent who wants the attentive ear of the school administration, whisper the word "bully" to the principal and watch the panic.
School administers have every right to be on high alert for bullying behavior. Victims are terrified, depressed, even suicidal. A young Irish immigrant girl, ceaselessly berated by merciless, prepubescent goons, killed herself in Massachusetts, evidently unable to endure the taunts. A gifted Rutgers University violist, whose roommate posted a salacious homosexual video of him on the Internet, plunged to his death from the George Washington Bridge. According to the National Crime Prevention Council, over 40 percent of all teenagers with Internet access have reported being bullied online. To many who have been the brunt of pranks and survived, such reactions may seem wildly out of proportion to the intimidation itself. But the pervasiveness, anonymity and range of the Internet amplify the assault, making it harder to deflect and almost impossible to ignore. Worse, the malice itself has become a poisonous game, in which the dosage is continually augmented to ensure the biggest yucks.
Bullies seek those great big belly laughs of hate. Where, one wonders, did these youngsters get the idea that ridiculing another human being was the comedic equivalent of a home run?
One answer may be found on some of the most popular programs on television today: "American Idol," "Dancing With The Stars," "America's Got Talent." How much of the entertainment generated by these programs derives from the actions of the talent, and how much by the snide, caustic, spiteful comments of the panel of judges? Anybody watch Ricky Gervais' snarky comments on The Golden Globes? If there is a line between sardonic and spiteful, Gervais seems blind to it. Rumor has it that Ellen DeGeneres left "American Idol" precisely [JUMP]because of its venomous atmosphere. Even one of the oldest programs "America's Funniest Videos" mines its comedy from the misfortunes of others. "Look at the guy slam right into the tree! Wow! Can we see it on slo-mo?
Recently, the Boston Globe reported sociologists have found a sizable decline in empathy.
Researchers at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research reported that college students now are 40 percent less empathetic than they were in 1979, with the steepest drop coming in the last 10 years. Students today are generally less likely to describe themselves as "soft-hearted" or have "tender concerned feelings for others" and more likely to admit that "other people's misfortunes" usually don't bother them, the Globe reported.
That's pretty alarming, particularly given recent neurological studies that indicate that empathy is "hard-wired" into the brains of normal children.
It seems we are born empathetic, but that the quality erodes over time.
In the wake of the tragic shooting that killed six and left a dozen wounded in Tuscon, Ariz., pundits and presidents have been swearing oaths for a less vitriolic, more "civilized" public dialogue.
But as New York Times Columnist David Brooks points out, "Speeches about civility will be taken to heart most by those people whose good character renders them unnecessary."
Civility, he asserts, is rooted in an acknowledgement of our own "failure, sin, weakness and ignorance."
Once we recognize our own shortcomings, the theory goes, we are more accommodating of those of others.
That is certainly one tired, Puritanical way to approach civility: We're all flawed; therefore none of us have any business being nasty to others.
Nevertheless, it is equally true that we are all born with an inherent tendency toward solicitude, kindness and empathy.
When society begins to applaud those qualities instead of rewarding their antithesis, we may draw nearer to the civil discourse which we insist we desperately need.
This, in the minds of many, is cause for alarm. Bullying is the current cause célèbre in American schools, right behind our souring scores in science and mathematics. If you're a parent who wants the attentive ear of the school administration, whisper the word "bully" to the principal and watch the panic.
School administers have every right to be on high alert for bullying behavior. Victims are terrified, depressed, even suicidal. A young Irish immigrant girl, ceaselessly berated by merciless, prepubescent goons, killed herself in Massachusetts, evidently unable to endure the taunts. A gifted Rutgers University violist, whose roommate posted a salacious homosexual video of him on the Internet, plunged to his death from the George Washington Bridge. According to the National Crime Prevention Council, over 40 percent of all teenagers with Internet access have reported being bullied online. To many who have been the brunt of pranks and survived, such reactions may seem wildly out of proportion to the intimidation itself. But the pervasiveness, anonymity and range of the Internet amplify the assault, making it harder to deflect and almost impossible to ignore. Worse, the malice itself has become a poisonous game, in which the dosage is continually augmented to ensure the biggest yucks.
Bullies seek those great big belly laughs of hate. Where, one wonders, did these youngsters get the idea that ridiculing another human being was the comedic equivalent of a home run?
One answer may be found on some of the most popular programs on television today: "American Idol," "Dancing With The Stars," "America's Got Talent." How much of the entertainment generated by these programs derives from the actions of the talent, and how much by the snide, caustic, spiteful comments of the panel of judges? Anybody watch Ricky Gervais' snarky comments on The Golden Globes? If there is a line between sardonic and spiteful, Gervais seems blind to it. Rumor has it that Ellen DeGeneres left "American Idol" precisely [JUMP]because of its venomous atmosphere. Even one of the oldest programs "America's Funniest Videos" mines its comedy from the misfortunes of others. "Look at the guy slam right into the tree! Wow! Can we see it on slo-mo?
Recently, the Boston Globe reported sociologists have found a sizable decline in empathy.
Researchers at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research reported that college students now are 40 percent less empathetic than they were in 1979, with the steepest drop coming in the last 10 years. Students today are generally less likely to describe themselves as "soft-hearted" or have "tender concerned feelings for others" and more likely to admit that "other people's misfortunes" usually don't bother them, the Globe reported.
That's pretty alarming, particularly given recent neurological studies that indicate that empathy is "hard-wired" into the brains of normal children.
It seems we are born empathetic, but that the quality erodes over time.
In the wake of the tragic shooting that killed six and left a dozen wounded in Tuscon, Ariz., pundits and presidents have been swearing oaths for a less vitriolic, more "civilized" public dialogue.
But as New York Times Columnist David Brooks points out, "Speeches about civility will be taken to heart most by those people whose good character renders them unnecessary."
Civility, he asserts, is rooted in an acknowledgement of our own "failure, sin, weakness and ignorance."
Once we recognize our own shortcomings, the theory goes, we are more accommodating of those of others.
That is certainly one tired, Puritanical way to approach civility: We're all flawed; therefore none of us have any business being nasty to others.
Nevertheless, it is equally true that we are all born with an inherent tendency toward solicitude, kindness and empathy.
When society begins to applaud those qualities instead of rewarding their antithesis, we may draw nearer to the civil discourse which we insist we desperately need.
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