Doesn’t Get The Principle Of Bullying

(The middle school I send my daughter to has a parent meeting one night during which they discuss their new approach to widespread bullying in the school.)

Principal: “All the administrators met this past summer to come up with a revolutionary new approach to our bullying problem. We believe we have found a great new strategy that will greatly reduce bullying. Here are two of our students to demonstrate it! Student #1 is the bully, and Student #2 is the bullying victim. Please watch carefully.”

(The principal smiles proudly and leaves the stage as students walk on.)

Student #1: “You’re ugly! You’re ugly!”

Student #2: “Hey, that is very hurtful. Please stop.”

Student #1: “I didn’t realize I was hurting your feelings. I’ll stop right away. Thank you for telling me.”

(The students walk off stage as the principal comes back up.)

Principal: “And that is our new strategy! We are going to tell the students to use civil discourse to solve bullying conflicts. Are there any questions?”

Parent #1: “Yes. Were you ever actually in middle school?”

Principal: “Why, yes—”

Parent #2: “You didn’t learn much from it, did you?”