Is it "bullying" or "name calling"

                                                          Governor Deval Patick (D) MA

An article in the New Bedford Standard Times entitled “Battling Back” discusses the subject of “bullying” which is a word I hear a lot these days that has a different connotation than what I remember, growing up in an urban environment in the fairly tough Blue Collar city of New Bedford, MA

The focal point of the story is on a girl who has been selected to sit on Gov Deval Patrick's Statewide Youth Council which is focusing on the problem of bullying. 

Back in the 1950’s and 1960’s bullying meant having your lunch money stolen or your books knocked out of your hands in the hallways, not name calling. Sounding was a way of life i.e. calling kids by their mother’s names and making fun of them  constantly for every reason under the sun. We didn’t get depressed or suicidal, however. In fact if I ever mentioned a "name calling " incident to my parents they would look at me with a grin and say: "Sticks and Stones can break my bones, but names can never hurt me".

After that I felt totally cured and forgot all about the matter for the rest of my life. Anyway if I can add two cents worth of common sense wisdom that the Governors Council is free to examine at absolutely no charge...

This generation is too soft and I blame liberalism in general along with their parents and teachers for focusing on building a false sense of self esteem on our kids rather than building self-confidence  through hard work, tough challenges, and making sure they experience both success and failure, through various competitions including sports events where the score is kept and winners and losers are declared.

Furthermore they are not held accountable for their actions. Their parents drive them everywhere. 

My generation which had it much easier than my parents generation walked everywhere most of the time or rode our bikes, and played outside as much as possible. Sometimes the interaction with other kids led to fights and confrontations with real bullies, but we learned that when you stood up to bullies, they usually stopped hassling you.

Now I’m not talking about gang wars and reall acts of criminality, lets be clear. That is a problem I was totally unfamiliar with during my youth except in the movie, West Side Story. There were also no drugs in the schools or any sign of weapons, so I admit that the things kids have to contend with today are certainly much more severe and I suppose an argument could be made to justify adults being more protective of their children than they were in my day. Today you have a relative epidemic of child molestation, so I agree there are other concerns.

But the stories I hear about bullying have to do with taunting which can now be done through all the marvelous high tech devices “name callers” have at their disposal.

I just finished listening to my sports talk radio show discussing the hate mongers who text them constantly with some of the most vicious attacks imaginable, so there is no doubt  our kids are being exposed to vicious verbal assaults. But still…so was I. Are you kidding? And it wasn’t over a cell phone or computer, but face to face with a tough street kids.

Today girls play organized sports like basketball and baseball, and some of them learn to defend themselves physically. I hate watching these news stories on TV of  these huge brawls that take place at a McDonalds where gangs of rough foul mouthed girls go at it, while customers and employees do nothing out of fear. In my day, girls had big brothers and fathers who protected them. I know…I know….what a concept!

I’ll discuss the feminization of American culture some other time. Right now the topic is bullying. Speaking of feminization of the culture,however, another misuse of the term bullying has been wrongly applied to those who speak out against homosexual activism, particularly in our schools and throughout our culture.

I don’t support crude name calling aimed at those who have serious problems and a habitual lifestyle that God considers sinful, according to the Bible. Once again God calls it sin, not sexual orientation and it is a lifestyle that can be very destructive to our culture. Look what it has and is doing to the institution of marriage which the traditional family is based on.

A very interesting article  on societal develpements on homosexuality can be found in a document entitled Declaration on the Torah Approach to Homosexuality, which is a public document signed by Rabbis, Community Leaders, and Mental Health Professionals.  If you are a liberal or someone who is wrestling with the problem of homosexuality, I'd like to suggest that you not handle any sharp objects while you read  this article because sometimes the truth can hurt and if you do start to become angry just take deep breaths and count to ten before continuing but more important than that remember...I was never here.

For more articles on related subject matter go to:

Whatever Happened to Recognizing "Good Samaritans"?http://www.jazzpatriot.com/2012/06/whatever-happened-to-recognizing-good.html