Stop the Presses! Study Finds Bullies Pick On Unpopular Kids!

[Eddie Teach]

I find Married with Children about unwatchable now.

None of the sitcoms of that era have aged well.

[Martinus]

One kid had his nuts stomped so hard one of his testicles ruptured.  They also forced him down and pissed down his mouth.

Ouch. Sounds like a date gone bad.

You'll like this, they did it because they thought he was gay.  Kids name was Kenny.  They took him out of school after that.  Homeschool or private school I guess.  Didn't see him again after that.

I got off easy, the worst someone did to me was break my arm.  Well I suppose that this kind of thing did lead somewhat to me going fucking nuts.  I still have nightmares about that shit.

Seriously, that's fucking nasty. I never heard of anything being that bullied. Jesus.

[Malthus]

I never really noticed the cliques/ that seem to epitomize high school to Malthus and most Hollywood screen writers. People had their circles of friends, sure, but those groups were too small to form an outline of the whole school. Course, my school was big enough that I didn't know half the people in my class.

My school was huge - had more than 3,000 students in it. No-one knew everyone in their class.

I wouldn't say my experience was universal, but I think "circle of friends" and "cliques" are more or less interchangable terms in HS. At least, they were in mine.

[Maximus]

It finally stopped in high school when, in the same day:

A) I repeatedly punched a younger bully, twice my size, in his eye socket until it got bloodied and permanently damaged in front of everyone. After telling him four times to stop picking off my earphones out of my ears. Fuck the unwritten rules, I wanted to beat the snot out of him.

B) I got patted in the back by my principal for doing so because I was obviously provoked (who suspended me nonetheless but without any due work, basically giving me one more day of break).

C) A bigger bully later tried to diss me in the middle of a class for assaulting the above bully, and I coolly threatened to break every single chair in the class on his back and face if he didn't back off, until either he died or all the chairs were broken, and I reached for the nearest chair. Luckily for him (and for me), he backed off and immediately played the Beta.  I was so enraged that day, I would have actually done it.

After that, I was left alone.

Is that how you gained the respect of the yardies?

[Eddie Teach]

My school was huge - had more than 3,000 students in it. No-one knew everyone in their class.

I wouldn't say my experience was universal, but I think "circle of friends" and "cliques" are more or less interchangable terms in HS. At least, they were in mine.

I didn't mean just the existence of cliques but the sort of social hierarchy you see in the movies- "over here you have the potheads, and over there the band geeks, and over there the 4h club." The reality was that people's groupings were much more random and fluid than that, and the most popular kids were the ones who were good-looking and friendly.

[ulmont]

I didn't mean just the existence of cliques but the sort of social hierarchy you see in the movies- "over here you have the potheads, and over there the band geeks, and over there the 4h club." The reality was that people's groupings were much more random and fluid than that, and the most popular kids were the ones who were good-looking and friendly.

While the groupings were somewhat more fluid, you could definitely pick out the potheads, the athletes, the college prep kids, the vo-tech kids, the band kids, etc.

[Malthus]

My school was huge - had more than 3,000 students in it. No-one knew everyone in their class.

I wouldn't say my experience was universal, but I think "circle of friends" and "cliques" are more or less interchangable terms in HS. At least, they were in mine.

I didn't mean just the existence of cliques but the sort of social hierarchy you see in the movies- "over here you have the potheads, and over there the band geeks, and over there the 4h club." The reality was that people's groupings were much more random and fluid than that, and the most popular kids were the ones who were good-looking and friendly.

In my experience, certain 'tribes' were easily identifiable - based on a common pastime or taste in music - but many were not.

Certainly drug use was a major identifier. There were groups that used drugs and those that did not, and not much overlap between the two.

Having a very large school enabled just about anyone to find a group that they had at least something in common with. My point was that the groups were *not* arranged in a sort of hierarchy, with the "popular kids" at the top and the "geeks" at the bottom or whatever: indeed, if there was some sort of clique of "popular kids", we didn't even know who they were, or care.

What was important was your 'ranking' among your friends. In our group, where drug use was universal, that was at least in part established by your reputation for honesty and generosity with others - being thought stingy or unscrupulous in the constant small trades that are part and parcel of the druggie lifestyle was a status-killer. 

[ulmont]

if there was some sort of clique of "popular kids", we didn't even know who they were, or care.

The "popular kids"  were easily identifiable.  College prep, all in the school choir or similar, children of the community leaders, etc.

[Martinus]

children of the community leaders, etc.

That's curious. In Poland, such children are usually targeted for bullying rather than being popular.

[Eddie Teach]

The "popular kids"  were easily identifiable.  College prep, all in the school choir or similar, children of the community leaders, etc.

[Admiral Yi]

I think Malthus is trying to tell us he was a high-ranking geek.

[crazy canuck]

I think Malthus is trying to tell us he was a high-ranking geek.

Who pretended not to care who the popular kids were.

[Drakken]

It finally stopped in high school when, in the same day:

A) I repeatedly punched a younger bully, twice my size, in his eye socket until it got bloodied and permanently damaged in front of everyone. After telling him four times to stop picking off my earphones out of my ears. Fuck the unwritten rules, I wanted to beat the snot out of him.

B) I got patted in the back by my principal for doing so because I was obviously provoked (who suspended me nonetheless but without any due work, basically giving me one more day of break).

C) A bigger bully later tried to diss me in the middle of a class for assaulting the above bully, and I coolly threatened to break every single chair in the class on his back and face if he didn't back off, until either he died or all the chairs were broken, and I reached for the nearest chair. Luckily for him (and for me), he backed off and immediately played the Beta.  I was so enraged that day, I would have actually done it.

After that, I was left alone.

Is that how you gained the respect of the yardies?

Nope, that's how I was finally left in peace.

Got a major depression after that, though, so I didn't profit from that peace until high school was over.

[HisMajestyBOB]

I was never picked on in school. Was I: popular?

[Razgovory]

I think Malthus is trying to tell us he was a high-ranking geek.

Who pretended not to care who the popular kids were.

He might not have since he was stoned.