Stop bullying awareness thread (Giveaways included Lvl 1+!)

The whole problem is there should not have to be a decision to abuse or be abused by others. I think there are many ways this could potentially be circumvented. It almost cost me or others their lives... I did attempt suicide for various reasons when I was much younger, and I acted out, turned to drugs to numb the constant trauma and pain, and cut on myself. Other ways I acted out, but in every case, whether the bully or those being bullied, the person is sick at the core. There are underlying issues that need to be addressed so these people are helped, and do not become bullies later in life, causing even more chaos in an already out of control system...

I know what you mean though. At the time of being attacked, you have only those two choices, really. If nobody intervenes and helps those that are calling out for help in these kinds of ways, then nothing can change, and the poison just keeps getting dumped on more and more people until most of the world is toxic as a result.

I am not too sure what GLP or LunOut mean, so you would have to explain.

I think also school may have turned out a completely different experience for me if more of the high functioning and asperger's were known. I wasn't able to communicate how much more help I needed in some areas, but that is kind of the nature of my issues early on. At those times, the stereotype was that autism was just the most extreme cases, and nobody really picked up on it in my situation - having a lot of intellect makes it easy to cover much of it, and mimic behaviors of others around you, since one wants to stand out as little as possible, being a potential target to ridicule. Maybe... if better life subjects were taught in schools, people would live better lives too. There was really none of that at all when I was going. I mean, if parents cannot really spend a lot of time in some cases, that may be their only way of learning much in regards to their views on the world and people around them in it. Maybe values being instilled in people as they went to school could really improve things at some levels. It won't fix the problem if kids are damaged due to other genetic or psychological things being passed down, but it might prove helpful in some situations. More awareness and counseling could be helpful too if children are suffering - mainly those who are bullying. It is the genesis of the problem, if the issue is abuse and then those who are abused feeling bad about themselves as a result and lashing out in other ways, whether it's internalized, or becoming bullies themselves. That is the sign of a problem they are having, or there would not be a need to lash out at others (usually in the form of levelling, since they feel bad about themselves as well). It almost reminds me of incarceration, the way I was being forced to go, and then constantly having to be on guard against potential attacks. I developed a habit of always looking over my shoulder, just in case somebody was trying to sneak up on me, like a prey animal would do.

Everything was very cookie-cutter in school, while there are so many ways different people learn. Many different paces, and many styles and ways it could be made more fun. USA education system is really pretty bad across the board. Comparisons to other countries show it in aptitude and test scores on important subjects. Also, not making it exciting and enjoyable makes learning a chore, which is bad. Once I gave up on studying subjects I was part of in school due to hating the pacing, the homework, attitudes of the teachers, and projects, etc... I sort of just crammed as a ritual before tests, and then since I had crammed only for the testing, I would forget about all that stuff soon after. It is just a terrible model for trying to retain any info here the way it was set up. If I'm not enjoying what I am doing, then it's not going to be something that's going to stick. Like anything in life, you're probably going to hang onto things you've got a passion for learning about much more than something uninteresting. More real life oriented stuff would have been pretty good as well... I think I took several elective courses on economics and cooking and stuff like that. Nothing about just day to day life though, or treating others properly, which is kind of sad. Just vague "contracts" or sayings or things like that, which nobody hardly cared about. I think that is one of the most important areas for growth in the areas I'm living in. If there were more integrity and honesty, people could at least have a little more trust and respect - my theory anyway. That is the foundation of any solid and real relationships of any kind. I just felt like another number; I was being groomed and brainwashed for some kind of "follow the leader" game, and it got a lot worse later on when I started really thinking about it introspectively.

Getting sick as time went on also... that's what reflects my viewpoints with the care for those who cannot work after the mandatory schooling here. In a natural sense, people want to support themselves, and want to try and prosper somehow, or at the very least, hopefully make ends meet, and rise up a little over time. It would be an illness in and of itself not to really want that. People should be motivated to succeed, I think.
Whenever I go to these social services centers in my area, most people in them are disabled in some kind of way. It's not a bunch of people freeloading off the government because they decided that's what they wanted to be when they grew up. The amount of money one gets each month is not enough to even cover the cost of a car payment each month... not factoring in the car insurance (though they have a medicaid dollar a day program here). And if you try to save up for anything... they count it against you if you meet a certain amount, considering it assets.

Still yeah, most people make more money per day than they give for assistance over the course of a month, and one has to fight tooth and nail just to get that! This area has a work first program too, so it's not free money for nothing in most cases (I have a disability that has allowed me a medical pardon due to the nature of my illnesses, however they're even cracking down on these, even though I have 8 or 10 that would each qualify me for SSI here on their own). I'm working on getting that instead, but it's just kind of "more of the same", once they factor in the cost of living and your expenses, or lack of, etc. Somebody still has to support you even when you move up to that level. I'd have almost nothing at all if I didn't have friends and family helping me out, which makes me sad to have to be seemingly a burden on them at all. Sorry for the long ranting again... It's a subject that I really have a lot of interest in... Wish there were more I could do productively here...