Bullying in Comparison to the Predator-Prey Ecosystem

[Ruma]

Humans definitely have a lot more logic and reasoning behind their instincts and behavior which definitely sets them apart from wildlife.
However, I have always held tight to the theory that humans are herd animals. Herd animals are prey animals, which means that they need to fit into the herd in appearance, behavior, etc. in order to survive and avoid drawing attention to the herd. If one sticks out, then it's going to get pushed out of the herd, just as people will generally push the different one away through means of bullying, shunning, etc. If it isn't pushed out, it will draw unnecessary attention to the herd which can lure in predators. In either case, the outcome isn't good for the different member as it ends up, hurt, dead, or alone.
It's in humans' best interest to fit in, in the same way that it's in a herd animals' best interest to fit in.
That being said, it makes sense on a very basic level, but human intelligence and lifestyle has evolved beyond the point of difference being a huge threat to our lives. My argument still stands though that the instinct is a driving point for much of our bullying behavior.

 

[Cura]

On the topic of bullying, there are some of us out there whom only had it what 25%, possibly 50% of the time in our lives? Then there are a lot of us out there, myself include and even now, even when you are a young adult, you are still being bullied. There is a lot of issues out there involving this subject, some can just flat out talk about it, while others withdraw and seem to hide away their pain.

Bullying in a scenario to be used as a 'crowd control' ploy is (in my fullest opinion) wrong. Very wrong. That is what happened during the Second World War with the Schutzstaffel (more commonly known as the Nazi SS) and what they did to many people. German, British, Jewish, Italian, ect. It was so terrible, most folk KNOW (and so help me God if someone doesn't) about the Holocaust.

Now, many can argue and debate on this; but from multiple years (about 6-7) of War History and studies, the Holocaust can be told as the most extreme case of bully abuse. Now, some can say that comparing this to bullying is no comparison, they are different. Just listen to me for a moment and think on it.

Before the plan that caused the Holocaust was set in motion, the Schutzstaffel were tasked to label all Jewish, Gypsy, Polish, Communist Supports, Homosexuals, POWs, and even the Mentally and Physically ill. Throughout 1939-1941, soldiers of the Schutzstaffel's Einsatzgruppen were tasked to keep the local (ahem, marked) peoples in check. What they did was terrible; physical injury, kidnapping of family for ransom, destruction of marked properties, that is just the tip of this iceberg. This in its own right is a form of bullying, an extreme case that was about to get even more genocidal.

1941; Adolf Hitler signs an order for the rounding up of all marked peoples and they were to be moved to pre-set labor camps. From 41-45, these peoples were worked to death, staved, and even gassed while their love ones watched and heard. Then forced to bury their own fallen. This in my opinion is the worst case scenario when you say bullying, because it started as such and eventually ended in such madness and lost of life.

Now, lets return to the modern day. Schools claim to be clamping down on bullying issues, but they still occur. Some cases are more extreme then others. Some notable examples are as the following.

March 24, 1998; Craighead Country, Arkansas: Two young kids. Mitchell Johnson, age 13 and friend Andrew Golden age 11 set in motion a plan after Andrew Golden pulls the fire alarm. As students emptied the building, the two opened fired at set kids and a teacher killing four kids, the said teacher, and wounding ten more students.

May 21, 1998; Springfield, Oregon: Kip Kinkel, age 15 had just murdered his parents at home and drove to his High School, Thurston High School where he opened fire and killed two and injured twenty three more.

Finally, April 20, 1999, a date that lives in infamy; Littleton, Colorado. Eric Harris, aged 18 and Dylan Klebold aged 17 set in motion their plan. After killing twelve students, a teacher, and wounding twenty-one others, they turn the guns on themselves and commit suicide. This tragic event would later becoming well known as the Columbine High School Massacre, an event that would make Schools around the USA enforce their no bully standards and rewrite how security at schools would work.

All of these cases, and many many more were caused in some way, form, or means by physical, mental, or sexual abuse. In lazy man's terms; bullying. From war to common day, bullying such not be used as a mean to control the population or crowd control. It, itself in my opinion will only lead to division among peoples and will bring ruin.

 

[Kanzler]

Well, I think want to be more selective in our use of the word bullying. If it's just a synonym for abuse then there's not really much to talk about, I mean, abuse happens in all contexts and has every cause so whatever we generalize would lack specificity in describing what's special about school or peer environments. You could have the opinion that it's all the same, but I don't think it holds much water without sufficient support, especially because state-sanctioned violence is done under official authority, whereas bullying among peers occurs between, well, peers - people with the same social role underneath an official authority (teachers, camp counsellors, bosses etc).

I don't think anybody's explicitly said that bullying doesn't kill people systematically (except for those tragic cases), but that's the main flaw in the analogy. I think it's apples and oranges because killing to reduce numbers isn't comparable to keeping some members subservient.

 

[Pendraflare]

Yeah, I think that the word "bullying" is something that can be unusually or improperly defined. We have a lot of abuse going on, but I would feel that bullying can define as harder than just being mean to others - I feel that it's more than that. It might be something that will emotionally affect the victim, such as making them feel isolated or leaving them with thoughts of self-harm or suicide. Or more specifically it can hit racial insults, which is something that is almost always seen in stronger regard.