Education, politics, and anything else that catches my attention.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Some People Are Rewarded By Angry Expressions
This could do so much to explain bullying and teasing--and it might finally put the lie to the belief that bullies really feel inadequate inside, when in fact quite the opposite is true.
This is a sort of a tangent off the same idea, but I used to work with children in the foster care system. Some of the research is interesting about abuse and why it occurs.
Very oversimplified, but basically, a lot of people get a bit of an adrenaline rush out of it. Sometimes it can make them feel very powerful and in control (contrary to the thought that they "lost control.") Most will feel very difficult afterwards and try to reconcile the relationship, making promises buying stuff or whatever, but the cycle is hard to break and whenever the triggers pop up again, the abuse is likely to occur again.
And the kids can be hard to work with...they will do about anything to provoke the abuse.
Interesting. Just in the last few years have I been beginning to notice articles that blame an increase in bullying on the self esteem movement. It seems that rather than being low like previously thought, the self-esteem of bullies is quite high, thank you very much; too high.
All my years in police work taught me many interesting lessons. Among them is that liberals love to project their own foibles and beliefs on others regardless of reality, the inanity that bullies and criminals behave as they do because they feel inadequate being a great example.
On the contrary, most of these folks think they're slicker than sliced bread. They like themselves just fine, thank you, and sociopathic little reprobates that they are, they do what they do because they genuinely like to hurt others, and they like it to the point of sexual arousal. They are, in fact, evil. But our liberal friends can't admit that evil exists.
No wait; they can, but only if we're talking about the President or Vice President. Or WalMart.
To tell the truth, I've probably gotten bullied more in high school than any other year of school. And to clarify one thing, I'm not talking about your jokes in math class, I think they're pretty funny. No, I'm talking about kids who just do really bad or deriding things to other kids to look 'cool' or be accepted. I don't think it's specifically an annoyed or angry facial expression, but something broader. It's simply a reaction, any reaction, that a bully wants. When these kids do something exceptionally insulting to look cool, they wait for any reaction showing the other person was affected, and voilà, the bully's popularity variable just increased by a point. If you think about it, that's what drives almost every mischievous thing we've done (although some mischievous things you can do without insulting another, like crank calling, doorbell ditching, etc.) When you crank call someone, all the fun is in the reaction, and if you're really good at it, you'll get a rather rare or unsual reaction, where it really gets funny.
That's my view, something mischievous on any scale is not done for a specific thing, but for any kind of reaction.
Now I know why some students enjoy pushing teacher's buttons. They enjoy our "angry face." So, if I just smile as they taunt me and other students this will take away the reward aspect and they will lose interest. I'll be darned. Never thought of that. When I was a cop, when criminals committed criminal acts, I wish I had known that arresting them was really rewarding them because we did so with an "angry face." Thank God for higher education!
This is a sort of a tangent off the same idea, but I used to work with children in the foster care system. Some of the research is interesting about abuse and why it occurs.
ReplyDeleteVery oversimplified, but basically, a lot of people get a bit of an adrenaline rush out of it. Sometimes it can make them feel very powerful and in control (contrary to the thought that they "lost control.") Most will feel very difficult afterwards and try to reconcile the relationship, making promises buying stuff or whatever, but the cycle is hard to break and whenever the triggers pop up again, the abuse is likely to occur again.
And the kids can be hard to work with...they will do about anything to provoke the abuse.
(And yes...statcounter is a wonderful toy!)
Interesting. Just in the last few years have I been beginning to notice articles that blame an increase in bullying on the self esteem movement. It seems that rather than being low like previously thought, the self-esteem of bullies is quite high, thank you very much; too high.
ReplyDeleteAll my years in police work taught me many interesting lessons. Among them is that liberals love to project their own foibles and beliefs on others regardless of reality, the inanity that bullies and criminals behave as they do because they feel inadequate being a great example.
ReplyDeleteOn the contrary, most of these folks think they're slicker than sliced bread. They like themselves just fine, thank you, and sociopathic little reprobates that they are, they do what they do because they genuinely like to hurt others, and they like it to the point of sexual arousal. They are, in fact, evil. But our liberal friends can't admit that evil exists.
No wait; they can, but only if we're talking about the President or Vice President. Or WalMart.
To tell the truth, I've probably gotten bullied more in high school than any other year of school. And to clarify one thing, I'm not talking about your jokes in math class, I think they're pretty funny. No, I'm talking about kids who just do really bad or deriding things to other kids to look 'cool' or be accepted. I don't think it's specifically an annoyed or angry facial expression, but something broader. It's simply a reaction, any reaction, that a bully wants. When these kids do something exceptionally insulting to look cool, they wait for any reaction showing the other person was affected, and voilà, the bully's popularity variable just increased by a point. If you think about it, that's what drives almost every mischievous thing we've done (although some mischievous things you can do without insulting another, like crank calling, doorbell ditching, etc.) When you crank call someone, all the fun is in the reaction, and if you're really good at it, you'll get a rather rare or unsual reaction, where it really gets funny.
ReplyDeleteThat's my view, something mischievous on any scale is not done for a specific thing, but for any kind of reaction.
Now I know why some students enjoy pushing teacher's buttons. They enjoy our "angry face." So, if I just smile as they taunt me and other students this will take away the reward aspect and they will lose interest. I'll be darned. Never thought of that. When I was a cop, when criminals committed criminal acts, I wish I had known that arresting them was really rewarding them because we did so with an "angry face." Thank God for higher education!
ReplyDelete