If prosecution deters most people from stealing couldn't it work to deter most teens from bullying. The acceptance of bullying possibly causes countless kids to be bullied.
In all reality, prosecution is
supposed to be a deterrent, but it isn't always effective as one. And note that I do agree that schools should make an effort to stop bullying. But making laws specifically against bullying? I don't really see the need.
What makes their suffering so acceptable?
The fact that suffering is part of the human condition.
Some people are born sensitive and others are born with thick skin. If you're born sensitive you should be allowed to co-exist with others without being driven to suicide. Yes some girls would laugh off having an older boyfriend who openly mocked your sex life in front highly esteemed peers who join in to taunt and humiliate you in very personal way while your heart was broken from a break up during a time in your life when your social standing means the world to you. Sure most girls would laugh it off.
Again: Yes! That was totally my argument. I totally said that most girls would laugh off bullying!
If you'd read what I was saying, you would know that I am not arguing that people should laugh off bullying. Naturally no one would laugh off such a thing in high school. But there is a difference between crying/feeling upset about it and taking your life. A huge difference in fact.
I would also like to point out that no one is
born with a thick skin. You
learn to have a thick skin by dealing with things like being picked on. And that is why I say that in a way bullying has its own place as a part of development into an adult. It teaches you to toughen up. It teaches you how to deal with the nasty side of life.
If someone is sensitive it shouldn't be open season on them. They should be protected the same way weak people are protected from rape and theft from stronger people. This isn't a Spartan society. The goal in life isn't some unyielding display of strength. It's the pursuit of happiness and the many ways that can manifest. No one should be harrassed or humiliated as a test of future durability. We're living souls not crash test dummies.
Yes. Ideally the world would be a quest for happiness where people are protected from evils. But that isn't the reality. The world is full of dumb jocks and mean girls. You don't stand much of a chance in it if you don't learn to toughen up and accept that you won't always like what people have to say about you.
Also, as a sensitive person myself, I take exception to your equating sensitivity with weakness. There is definitely a difference between being sensitive and being emotionally weak.
