Anti-Bullying Flash Mob at Oakridge

[TheNewGirl]

Actually, getting all the kids to work together on something in a cohesive group, probably reduced friction between cliques within the schools and there for reduced bullying inside of those two schools.

You know, if you want to talk about managing group dynamics, getting groups of people together that wouldn't usually associate and getting them to 1. do something fun and 2. do something they wouldn't normally do, breaks down standard patterns of behavior and builds large group cohesiveness and establishes a group norm of cooperation.

That's what dancing has to do with stopping bullying. The teachers who coordinated the event have probably defused any bullying problems in both of their schools in a very fun and easy way that doesn't involve having to suspend anyone or paint anyone as victims or perpetrators.

[The_AK]

The only people doing flash mobs and enjoy watching them are the same people who were enthusiastic about the electric slide in elementary school
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[LiquidTurbo]

Originally Posted by StevenDuang

One issue is that you can NEVER stop bullying,

its in our hormones especially in males.

It's always animal nature to bully, and we are animals.

Replace the word bullying with "rape". Just because something is human nature doesn't mean we can't control it for the betterment of peoples.
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[Psykopathik]

Originally Posted by LiquidTurbo

Replace the word bullying with "rape". Just because something is human nature doesn't mean we can't control it for the betterment of peoples.
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the only reason rape isn't rampant, is because of the consequences you could face.

Look at Hurricane Katrina. people thought they were anonymous as the internet and did whatever the fuck they wanted. it was a lawless fucking free for all.

take away the fear of punishment and all hell breaks loose in the fucking united states even. a world power, first world nation.

within 2-3 weeks New Orleans became hell.

given a chance, people will act like the animals we all are but pretend that we aren't.

all animals feel the need to eat, fuck, and establish pecking order/dominate others.

back in the caveman days, it was needed. in today's society there is no place for it.

think of the UFC or MMA. people love watching other people fuck each other up. eventually we'll see arenas again like in ancient Rome.

people go nuts when they cant get out their aggressions/ frustrations so we pick fights. not to be a moron and beat on some big dude, bullys pick on the weaker kids.

i think im rambling off now...

[LiquidTurbo]

^ so clearly, we need to unleash the Tossed Salad man on kids caught bullying. Problem solved

[Death2Theft]

I'd bully you if I saw you in that flashmob.

[LiquidTurbo]

Originally Posted by TheNewGirl

Actually, getting all the kids to work together on something in a cohesive group, probably reduced friction between cliques within the schools and there for reduced bullying inside of those two schools.

You know, if you want to talk about managing group dynamics, getting groups of people together that wouldn't usually associate and getting them to 1. do something fun and 2. do something they wouldn't normally do, breaks down standard patterns of behavior and builds large group cohesiveness and establishes a group norm of cooperation.

That's what dancing has to do with stopping bullying. The teachers who coordinated the event have probably defused any bullying problems in both of their schools in a very fun and easy way that doesn't involve having to suspend anyone or paint anyone as victims or perpetrators.

No. This was a highly idealized exercise that didn't do anything in the real world. In the end, NOTHING changed. Bullying is a highly complex psychological and social problem.


If anything, the douchebags at school the next day were like "hey, was that you on TV being a fag?"

[bloodmack]

Yeah.. dancing in pink shirts at oakridge isn't going to do shit all about bullying. Besides give the bullies a few good chuckles.

[LUUUUUUUU]

[twitchyzero]

So it's true, churchill is 98% Asian.

[b0unce. [?]]

I remember in elementary school, i wanna say grade 6... so anyways i used to get picked on by this kid in grade 7 who was notably bigger than i was. so one day during lunch he was pushing me around and just generally trying to instigate something. i ignored it cause i was totally owning playing ball hockey at the time. i waited till after school when we were all walking home, like usual he tried to fuck with me. i guess i just snapped, i turned around and swung the stick with 2 hands (this was one of those easton aluminum ones) and just smoked him across the face, then proceeded to kicking the living shit out of him. after that day, he literally stopped bullying kids for good (or just stopped messing with me, i think)

i mean bullies in general probably have self confidence and low self esteem issues. they pick on others in attempt to prove some sort of physical or mental dominance over the people he/she is surrounded by. i'm sure they want to look 'cool' in the eyes of his/her friends too. the fact that other people most likely fear is something they enjoy. i'm sure there are more things that factor in.
the real only solution is to man the fuck up about the situation and deal with it. by not confronting them, it basically tells them that they can continue to pick on you without any repercussions.

[The_AK]

Originally Posted by Turbo E

the only reason rape isn't rampant, is because of the consequences you could face.

Look at Hurricane Katrina. people thought they were anonymous as the internet and did whatever the fuck they wanted. it was a lawless fucking free for all.

take away the fear of punishment and all hell breaks loose in the fucking united states even. a world power, first world nation.

within 2-3 weeks New Orleans became hell.

given a chance, people will act like the animals we all are but pretend that we aren't.

all animals feel the need to eat, fuck, and establish pecking order/dominate others.

back in the caveman days, it was needed. in today's society there is no place for it.

think of the UFC or MMA. people love watching other people fuck each other up. eventually we'll see arenas again like in ancient Rome.

people go nuts when they cant get out their aggressions/ frustrations so we pick fights. not to be a moron and beat on some big dude, bullys pick on the weaker kids.

i think im rambling off now...

You could even go as far as saying that bullying is part of natural selection. The weak will fall but we're in a way interrupting with nature! :O
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[Okami]

to make matters worse.. RIGHT after the song was over they were like



and put their jackets on.. hows that for spreading awareness

[TheKingdom2000]

that's a sick picture.

and that's what you're supposed to do in a flash mob. Just peace it, like nothing happened.

[TheNewGirl]

Originally Posted by LiquidTurbo

No. This was a highly idealized exercise that didn't do anything in the real world. In the end, NOTHING changed. Bullying is a highly complex psychological and social problem.


If anything, the douchebags at school the next day were like "hey, was that you on TV being a fag?"

I know that bullying is a highly complex and psychological and social problem.

Bullying is 1. a symptom of a larger problem not really the problem itself and 2. the target is also part of the problem not just a symptom (which no one wants to hear but is the truth none the less and the sooner we can own this part of the equation the faster we can deal with the problem) and 3. that problem is solvable.

There's some fantastic books and articles by various sociologists and psychologists on the evolutionary importance of group dynamics and I totally recommend people read them to have a better idea of why this shit happens and how to combat it.

Most bullying usually isn't about aggression but more about enforcing social norms. (There are what are called minority bullies but they're a smaller portion of bullies - these include kids with legitimate aggression issues usually they're defuse rather then targeted in their attacks though and they don't have the weight of the peer group behind them)

We see that when we put children in uniforms at school that there's an immediate drop in bullying. We see that shifting the group norm to make the bully the abnormal one immediately results in a drop in bullying behavior. We tend to see that when the bullied conform to the social norms the bullying lessens or disappears entirely. It's important to understand we're primates and as such we're conformist creatures who strive towards group cohesion. The bullied (or Target as they're called) presents a threat to or thumbs their nose at the norm completely. Unfortunately we're in an age where we want all our kids to be precious little snowflakes and as we put more value on individualism we see bullying behavior increase and become more extreme.

In this case since a large group went out and wore pink shirts and danced, they're not behaving 'abnormally' and unlikely to see any real heat unless their schools are absolutely huge and the group there represented only a very small portion of them. If only 1 or 2 of them had, that would be a WHOLE different story. Group norms shift like that so that on pink shirt day for example since EVERYONE wears a pink shirt it is more socially acceptable to do so than not to where as any other day wearing a pink shirt would be worthy of being bullied.

Unfortunately, most of our anti bullying programs fail because they treat the Bully as the only problem and fail to address the 1. Target as anything but a hapless victim for fear of treading on their individuality or damaging their self esteem 2. the group norms support the bullying and cast out the Target and 3. tend to further isolate the Target rather then integrate them into the group which actually makes the bullying worse. Where as programs that shift group norms to tolerate the Target, not the Bully or that encourage the Target to conform to group norms are the most effective.

tl;dr - Group dynamics are the issue. Not just the bully themselves.

[Tapioca]

Many of you are missing the point and I'm particularly jaded that some of you are criticizing something that took obviously a lot of organization and practice.

I did some acting in elementary and high school so I understand what a thrill it can be when you do something in front of an appreciative audience. Instead, we have people in here who put down these kids for doing something interesting and entertaining. No, it's not going to change the world, but why can't we just admire the effort and energy of these kids? If anything, I'm sure the event provided a great deal of self-esteem to a lot these youngsters which is something they'll need as they go out into the real world.

[LiquidTurbo]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

Many of you are missing the point and I'm particularly jaded that some of you are criticizing something that took obviously a lot of organization and practice.

I did some acting in elementary and high school so I understand what a thrill it can be when you do something in front of an appreciative audience. Instead, we have people in here who put down these kids for doing something interesting and entertaining. No, it's not going to change the world, but why can't we just admire the effort and energy of these kids? If anything, I'm sure the event provided a great deal of self-esteem to a lot these youngsters which is something they'll need as they go out into the real world.

I understand your point of view and I don't believe anyone is actually putting down these kids.

The point is that they are trying to convey the idea that they are doing something to help bullying when in fact they are not.

In fact, we are deillusioning these kids in thinking we can solve realworld complex problems using idealogical methods that don't work.

You want to do something fun, put on a show for people, do something in public, sure, that's great.

But don't get the wrong idea from it, and I think these kids may in fact get the wrong idea from it. They are going to go home thinking "today I helped contribute to a bullying solution!", when really it should "we did flashmob today at a Oakridge, it was fun!"

You want these kids to actually help society? Have them volunteer at a soup kitchen. Visit some old folks home and have them talk with people there. Go to the beach and clean up garbage. Do something nice for terminally ill children. etc etc.

I can respect the flashmob for what it is, but in the end I do think it's a waste of energy and time, and doing the kids a great disservice in the long run if they are taught this is a way of solving problems, as opposed to just having fun.

[The_AK]

^
This is true, as I mentioned earlier the majority of the audience surrounding the "event" appear to be friends and family there to drop off and pick up their kids. They're pretty much watching a performance. I'm willing to say its not much different from kids dancing on stage in a school gym except this took place in the middle of the mall. What separates this from a dance in a school gym other than location?

funny how one simple dance resulted in all this

[Hondaracer]

somone needs to bully those geeks, the cool kids got no time for flash-mob's, they be out smokin blunts ya heard

[yoghurtfarmer]

Originally Posted by LiquidTurbo

I understand your point of view and I don't believe anyone is actually putting down these kids.

The point is that they are trying to convey the idea that they are doing something to help bullying when in fact they are not.

In fact, we are deillusioning these kids in thinking we can solve realworld complex problems using idealogical methods that don't work.

You want to do something fun, put on a show for people, do something in public, sure, that's great.

But don't get the wrong idea from it, and I think these kids may in fact get the wrong idea from it. They are going to go home thinking "today I helped contribute to a bullying solution!", when really it should "we did flashmob today at a Oakridge, it was fun!"

You want these kids to actually help society? Have them volunteer at a soup kitchen. Visit some old folks home and have them talk with people there. Go to the beach and clean up garbage. Do something nice for terminally ill children. etc etc.

I can respect the flashmob for what it is, but in the end I do think it's a waste of energy and time, and doing the kids a great disservice in the long run if they are taught this is a way of solving problems, as opposed to just having fun.

Some posters here are indeed putting down these kids, it's hard to miss.

As someone who does volunteer regularly with the ill, underprivileged and disabled, I have to disagree with your assessment about how useless the flashmob is. Kids aren't dumb, I doubt the majority of them will go home thinking they changed the world. Either way, people forget the power of awareness and recognition, particularly with an issue like bullying that stems from the social consciousness kids/teens.

By working together and participating, it's not unreasonable to think that they've gained a deeper appreciation of bullying problems... and hey maybe down the line when those elementary kids enter highschool and see bullying, they'll have the courage to stand up for their peers and help stop bullying directly.

[soowu]

bullying is nothing compared to back in the days where a bigger kid pushed around a small skinny kid . now you see teenagers running around with mace , batons and shit , and the funny thing is they would hang out at the mall with 30 people just loitering and just a little glance they would say " the fuck you starin at " than stare you down to intimidate and start some shit . most likely take your clothing's or the usual " YOU WANT BEEF" "

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by LiquidTurbo

I understand your point of view and I don't believe anyone is actually putting down these kids.

Oh really?

Originally Posted by ilmatic

That was beyond super gay...

Originally Posted by kluk

it was like the same 3 moves for 5mins. Boooooooring.

Originally Posted by soowu

fuck id love to be the dick and just run in there and fuck everything up

Originally Posted by 1exotic

burn oakridge down mothafuka


that was extremely gay.

Originally Posted by Xnova86

i wouldve just run in there and push some of the dancers over just to troll

Originally Posted by Vansterdam

X 99999
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I rest my case.

[geeknerd]

Hey guys, this video has raised my awareness and made me realize that i am a bully. From now on ill try not to bully the weaker kids.
Thanks for those that have danced to help me realize this fact. It surely has raised my awareness and has stopped at least 1 bullying incident

problem ?

/end thread.

[GLOW]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

Oh really?


I rest my case.

count it

[m!chael]

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