OH SHIT! I just checked into it, I guess he woke up and is making good progress. That's awesome.

I still wonder if the spot light on bronies had an effect, just indirect, when it comes to persecution and acceptance. I don't see much of kids and their views of gender norms/marketing/gender roles in general out with attention, yet there's already been a succession of two videos concerning kids being bullied. I think the fact that there is so much up front acceptance and appreciation for the show that it encourages kids to follow through. (Note: I have a question, what ever happened to that kid who was acting out a story with MLP mini figs. Can't find the submission page and last I recall his channel was down. But he was well received here.)

Off the top of my head, I've only seen one or two bullying videos with out searching the subject, one on a disabled kid and one that was more abusive than bullying of the kid sent to the janitor closet due to his ADHD/disability, but I have yet to see one posted about a child being bullied for go against the marketed gender norms. I really do think there's something coming out of this fandom than diaper fetishists blowing off steam and hormonally enraged, 3dgy fan art and socially broken people.)

Correction on that first sentence. ...when it comes to persecution and acceptance, putting a spot light on bullying in schools.

The website for casual, but rough, sexual encounters.

Yeah! MAN UP you wussies! The WUSSIFICATION of America, if you ask me!!

Eh, it's always going to happen and there's nothing anyone can do to 100% stamp it out. Taking a blanket zero tolerance stance on anything is always a bad idea though.

The ironic part about zero tolerance rules when it comes to bullying/fighting is that it strips away the classic bully prevention method: a kid finally standing up for himself and punching the bully. A lot of bullies are wimpy shits and even when they're not, as long as the victim gets one decent shot in the bully will now always think twice and ask himself if a taunt is worth another black eye.

The non-violent solution is to coach victims along the lines of "These things you do single you out as weak and isolated, easy pickings for other kids looking to get a leg up. Here are things you can do to improve on that." But the current mentality is to label anything along those lines as "victim shaming", taking an extreme dogmatic approach (you shouldn't have to do a single thing to fit in and be accepted) and dismissing any pragmatic ones (people will always judge you, here are ways to realistically minimize the most harmful effects). The advice is always to be yourself and do whatever you want, never to socially better yourself to keep the crosshairs from falling on you in the first place.

So we're stuck with the worst possible mindset that removes both the violent (one punch or scuffle to prevent years of torment and shootings/suicides) and non-violent (shape up and don't be such an awkward dork) realistic solutions, leaving bullying as a powder keg with no outlet until it blows up in cases like this.

I agree with Nominal, and interestingly, so do Michael's parents! His mom has been very outspoken... not blaming anyone or using her son's tragedy to call on society to "get tough", but rather telling people to turn the other cheek, and focus not on punishing bullies, but on empowering victims to stand up for themselves. For example:

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"I've heard a lot of people say you need to go after bullies and hold them responsible,” Michael's mother said. “But you know, I don’t think that’s what Mike would want. I would rather teach people how to do right than turn around and punish, because punishment doesn't always work."

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"Eh, it's always going to happen and there's nothing anyone can do to 100% stamp it out. Taking a blanket zero tolerance stance on anything is always a bad idea though."

There was a time when I thought that was an 100% applicable thought as well.

I completely disagree Nominal. I grew up rough but my disconnect socially made it easy for me to shrug things off. I never knew what bullying was and never felt bullied in my time. I pretty much found out I had to feel shame for my thoughts and emotions. If I was in a better situation, I would've been considered one of the gay kids in school and probably got a bit more roughed up. Yet I have been dealing with an on the fence tolerance/understanding of LGBT all due to attempting to keep myself from being judged or from being a target. When I found a social circle that I had ANY sharp interest in being in, I was not prepared at all to actually socialize properly and ended up being an outcast from a group of well-adjusted and intelligent people. I think I'd rather be an awkward doofus then be a fucking antithesis for what I feel and believe in.

Off topic; I'm done with this "homosexuality is a man made concept" not just because I hear more and more about gay kids well under the age of puberty, but that "it's a choice" is blatant encouragement for kids to harass them all because their family does not believe in homosexuality existing.

*Note: found out to feel shame just by being laughed at for looking at stuff for girls from my family when I was young.

Note: Hooker never mentioned blanket zero tolerance policies.

Yeah, I was kind of wondering where that came from.

Remember when that was the parents job? Remember when kids were afraid of their parents if they got found out doing something that might wind up with someone in the hospital?

Yeah, those days are gone.

ROUS, please don't be the parents-should-hit-their-kids idiot.

If I want to look back closely at my childhood, I lived in one of the poorest and roughest areas of my city. It was also a small community, so I basically knew what the home lives and parents were of the kids I wasn't friends with. The parents that did the best job of making their kids fear them also had the worst kids, bar none. My anecdotal experience is also backed up by decades of psychology and sociology.

But yes, remember a magical time when kids wouldn't do things adults didn't want them to? I don't, but let's all try to remember that time.

Yeah, you should only punch your children for fun. Having ulterior motives is a dick move.

You know a while back when I said all your posts reflected a childish, false moral indignation, Binro?

This is exactly what I was talking about. Your desire to feel superior and inflict suffering has turned you into the very bully that tormented you.

And so the cycle continues.

What future tragedies and injustices will spawn from the suffering inflicted by the relentless PoETV postings of Binro, we do not know, we cannot say, all we know is that the cycle will continue.

I'm just saying the kids who picked on that boy are probably feeling great about themselves right now instead of remorseful.

Okay, maybe they'll develop the proper circuitry later on and feel a little bad about what they've done but they'll never really regret it or apologize for doing it. Bullying gives some people a sense of power regardless of how abhorrent it is.

They might, in public and in front of authorities, express sadness and regret, but deep down they really think what they did was cool.

The only hint of justice in this whole sad situation is that this "achievement" will set them up for disappointment later in life when they find most people aren't as easy to manipulate as an eleven-year-old-child.