Gets teased in school and instead of crying, actually does something about it - wow!

[mykalberta]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...er-ginger.html

After putting up with endless jokes about the boys having different fathers, 17-year-old Fred settled the matter once and for all – by designing his very own DNA testing machine.

Not the greatest timing for this post "if the criminal accusations are true" (in the other story) but I dont care, Im posting this anyway because the whole bullying crap we are being forcefed these days really pi$$es me off.

In our country where "bullying" seems like its a national crisis (according to CBC, CTV, Global etc), is a kid who went above and beyond and actually did something. If this happened in Canada I doubt it would get much press as an overcoming obstacles story isnt as juicy as a cry me a river feel sorry for me story.





ps - real scientists is Windows, not Mac

[Jacks]

After putting up with endless jokes about the boys having different fathers, 17-year-old Fred settled the matter once and for all – by designing his very own DNA testing machine.

Who needs a machine, I can tell who one of the the fathers is.

[GGG]

Not to rain on what this kid did but the reporting is terrible. He didn't prove that he and is brother have the same fathers. He just showed his brother had the markers for red headedness.

To show that it is possible that they have the same father they would have had to test his fathers DNA to ensure that he has the recessive gene for red headed ness or if his father is a ginger he would have to show that he had the recessive gene for read headedness passed on from his father and even then that would only limit the pool of possible fathers. Further comparison and sequencing would be necessary.

[FlamesAllTheWay]

Good on em and glad they did something about it. But not everyone these days is going to be able to do something like that to overcome bullying.

Wrt to some of the recent bullying cases you referred to these days, they're in the spotlight because they venture well into the realm of criminal activity. Rape (Reteah Parson's), child pornography (hers and Amanda Todd's), invasion of privacy, etc. A little different than getting teased about your dad (edit: just finished the full article and it actually says they were getting teased by their friends... Leads me to believe it may have been somewhat in jest?)

Plus the online aspect of it all is something relatively new that people are still getting a grip on how to deal with.

[shermanator]

Originally Posted by Jacks

Who needs a machine, I can tell who one of the the fathers is.

[Devils'Advocate]

the whole bullying crap

I'm gonna guess you were never bullied in your youth....

[Nehkara]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

because the whole bullying crap we are being forcefed these days really pi$$es me off.

In our country where "bullying" seems like its a national crisis (according to CBC, CTV, Global etc), is a kid who went above and beyond and actually did something. If this happened in Canada I doubt it would get much press as an overcoming obstacles story isnt as juicy as a cry me a river feel sorry for me story.

Tread lightly sir.

[CaptainCrunch]

I was waiting for the part of the story where the DNA machine was a brick with some dials drawn on it and they threw it through the bullies bedroom window with a note on it.

[topfiverecords]

Mom? Ever been to Las Vegas?

[1stLand]

Bullying is a part of life.
It doesnt stop after school.

Bosses Bully Their Employees
Women/Men Bully their spouse or partner or bf/gf
The Government Bullies Taxpayers
Lawyers & Litigators Bully Defendants on behalf of their Clients
Neighbours Bully Neighbours.

Fact is, we cant eliminate bullying in our schools because its Human nature to bully one another.
Also, we need to prepare kids for more legal forms of bullying once they reach adulthood.

There is no principal you can go to if you are bullied in adulthood.
Only cops and lawyers, but in most cases they will just laugh at you

[jeffman]

I dont understand why kids dont make an iron man suit and blast their bullies

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

I'm gonna guess you were never bullied in your youth....

I was bullied endlessly.

And I am tired of it being treated like a national crisis. They have turned kids into pussies by not allowing them to defend themselves if they wanted to.

Also parents should try being parents, part of their job is to teach their kids how to cope with being bullied because it doesn't quit with school, there is a reason so many younger people quit jobs at the drop of a dime because their boss is mean.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by jeffman

I dont understand why kids dont make an iron man suit and blast their bullies

With Canada's 20% rate of childhood obesity there isn't enough iron in this country to make all of those seats.

Plus most of them would probably play Iron Man on the X-Box as opposed to making a suit.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Alberta_Beef

I was bullied endlessly.

And I am tired of it being treated like a national crisis. They have turned kids into pussies by not allowing them to defend themselves if they wanted to.

Also parents should try being parents, part of their job is to teach their kids how to cope with being bullied because it doesn't quit with school, there is a reason so many younger people quit jobs at the drop of a dime because their boss is mean.

I don't know if I agree with you or not. But I think that its a different type of bullying then it was back when I was a kid where the bully was in front of you, you knew what you were dealing with, and you had the choice to deal with it or not.

That kind of bullying is easier to deal with.

With the advent of social media you're dealing with a ready army of anonymous bullies who take it far beyond the boundaries that were there when I especially was growing up and bullying was more physical then mental.

Now bullying is like a well planned psychological warfare. These idiots know what buttons to hit. Its impossible to confront them, you can change your email and all of your accounts and they'll still get to you.

I agree about parents not doing enough in terms of teaching coping skills and letting the twitters and facebooks or the world acting as their primary social outlook on life.

But honestly I do think that the biggest problem now is the veil that separates the victim from the tormentor.

I think that parents have to do more, I think facebook has to do more and Twitter and whatever have to do more.

I don't know what the rules are on getting somebodies identity on the internet. But I honestly think that they have to find a way to rip the mask off of these thugs and make examples of them.

I would love to see a murder trial featuring 10 of the biggest cyber bullies in this case.

Its not like the old days when I got bullied and my dad took me out back to toughen me up and told me that the only way to get a bullies respect was to punch him square in the nose.

I sometimes think though that the old goal of building a kinder gentler society has been replaced with the goal of building an army of unfeeling thrill seeking psychos

[Russic]

I wonder how anonymous it is. In the latest case there were accusations of text messages and facebook posts. I would hazard a guess that the victim knew exactly who was doing the talking. That's not to say social media doesn't make stuff like this worse, just playing devil's advocate.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I would love to see a murder trial featuring 10 of the biggest cyber bullies in this case.

The amount of bullying is no different nowadays, the only difference is the medium has changed. The amount of kids killing them selves because of bullying hasn't changed, the fact that the bullying is done with a public record in social media, is telling us why these kids are killing them selves.

The one huge issue I have with this phenomena, is how people are blaming bullies for the suicides of their victims. No matter how rough you have it, no matter how mean people are being to you, taking your life, is an unreasonable solution to a temporary problem.

The only person to blame for a suicide is the is the person that murdered themselves, and permanently ruined the lives of their loved ones, who have to carry on, and subsequently blame themselves for thinking they could have done more. The person close to me who did just this, got their way out, and peace, but a year later, I still hate my life. All that person did was pass off their pain to me, and make my depression issues worse than they were. But you know what, I will suffer through it, make the most of what I have, and not take the easy way out and hurt the few people in my life the actually care.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by pylon

The amount of bullying is no different nowadays, the only difference is the medium has changed. The amount of kids killing them selves because of bullying hasn't changed, the fact that the bullying is done with a public record in social media, is telling us why these kids are killing them selves.

The one huge issue I have with this phenomena, is how people are blaming bullies for the suicides of their victims. No matter how rough you have it, no matter how mean people are being to you, taking your life, is an unreasonable solution to a temporary problem.

The only person to blame for a suicide is the is the person that murdered themselves, and permanently ruined the lives of their loved ones, who have to carry on, and subsequently blame themselves for thinking they could have done more. The person close to me who did just this, got their way out, and peace, but a year later, I still hate my life. All that person did was pass off their pain to me, and make my depression issues worse than they were. But you know what, I will suffer through it, make the most of what I have, and not take the easy way out and hurt the few people in my life the actually care.

Lets say that you were a deeply depressed person, and I knew you were a deeply depressed person and decided to needle you, and needle you, and get my buddies to needle you until you killed yourself because its a bit of good sport.

Who's responsible for your death?

Its no different then a sniper who knows that a head shot is fatal taking that shot.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Lets say that you were a deeply depressed person, and I knew you were a deeply depressed person and decided to needle you, and needle you, and get my buddies to needle you until you killed yourself because its a bit of good sport.

Who's responsible for your death?

Its no different then a sniper who knows that a head shot is fatal taking that shot.

Sorry CC. IMO opinion there is a point where someone has to be responsible for their own actions, and killing yourself is that line. As mean as bullies can be, I find it hard to believe that any of these bullies want their victim to kill themselves as an end result.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by pylon

Sorry CC. IMO opinion there is a point where someone has to be responsible for their own actions, and killing yourself is that line. As mean as bullies can be, I find it hard to believe that any of these bullies want their victim to kill themselves as an end result.

Yeah we're going to disagree.

I've worked with depressed people in both family settings and friend settings and I'm firmly of the opinion that when it comes to dealing with the situation and taking responsibilities in terms of suicide they aren't rational, they won't ask for help and they'll suffer in silence and let it overwhelm them.

In terms of emotions its a tornado in there and the rational thinking that you and I enjoy just isn't applicable.

There are millions upon millions of undiagnosed depressives out there because they are almost incapable of asking for help.

but that thought of "They would be better off without me" or "My life is ruined anyways" or "Everyone hates me, I'm useless" Are as powerful as a scream in a canyon.

We can't apply rational rules to an irrational condition.

Just my two cents.

[FlamesFanStrandedInEDM]

Bullying is a huge problem in schools. This mentality of "Boys will be boys" or "It will make them stronger in the long run" is garbage.

Being bullied has a huge impact on how successful that student will be in school, and in turn...life. I've seen students change for the worse emotionally and academically in a matter of weeks as a result of bullying.

Bullying is the number one cause for kids chronically missing school. It should not be taken lightly.

But if you are a strong believer in survival of the fittest....Bullying can be looked at as weeding out the weak and leaving success only to the strong.