TANJ.

[athelind]

I just read today's Ozy & Millie, in which Millie, pushed to the limit by the resident bully shoving her into the mud repeatedly, lashes out and punches him in the arm.

If my own formative years are any guide to this strip, I know exactly what's going to happen next.

The Powers That Be are going to come down on Millie for fighting back.

Comments

[mythos-amante.livejournal.com]

LOL, I got away with a few things, being a girl. I once hit a bully with the buckle end of a belt as he tried to yank off and steal my shoes while he was getting off the school bus. The bus driver said, "HEY!" to me, but said to the boys, "Serves you right!"

That wouldn't happen today, though, with sue-happy parents all over the place.

[tombfyre.livejournal.com]

Sounds about right. Thats how it worked when I was in school. :p Though things seem to be changing these days! This Provence o' mine is going gung ho about stopping bullying and whatnot. Namely, by actually doing something about it. Like... stopping the bullies, rather than pretending nothing is happening. :)

[araquan.livejournal.com]

That was the story of my life, pretty much, 1987-1992.

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Yup. Worse if you're a year younger than the bullies but a head taller, like I was. My parents admitted to me later that they basically conspired with the schools to give me a Clockwork Orange type of treatment because naturally, being so big, I'd go around being a bully myself if I was allowed to so much as defend myself.

Did great things for my psyche growing up, I can tell you. :P

-The Gneech

[paka.livejournal.com]

But that's part of why being a bully works. The kid knows that the people he's pushing around want to be "good kids," and part of being a good kid is not risking getting in trouble with the adults.

This is part of why the way you stop bullying is you go on the offensive. That the adults will come down on you like a ton of bricks is like the way you're going to get beat up by the stronger bigger kid; you want to show this person that the stuff he'd depended upon as a source of power doesn't matter to you.

[shdragon.livejournal.com]

Yes.

I got beat up every day in Jr High in lunch class. The one time I fought back, the bully got scolded.

I got a week of in-school suspension.

[hitchkitty.livejournal.com]

One of the early lessons drilled into me in elementary school was this:
Don't hit back, because the Teacher might not see the original punch, only your response.

In all fairness, administrators can only address what they've personally witnessed. But your incident sounds like a case of "We're giving you the worse punishment because you didn't Go Through Channels."

[shdragon.livejournal.com]

Agreed. The only thing I really learned was "just shut up and take it. Let them beat you up, the system is unfair. Don't complain, don't fight it, you'll only make it worse." and I'm still struggling against that to this day. I was almost a year late for a review/raise at work because I never complained about it. I've gotten screwed almost endlessly about time off and getting constantly pushed into crunch mode, etc... It's just my natural reaction to say nothing and get walked on.

And, yes, I understand fully that the administration can only address what they see. I just wish the bullies hadn't been so good at not being seen, and I wasn't so "lucky" to being seen every single time.

[tugrik.livejournal.com]

...and looking at the comic the next day, yup.

You called it, right on the nose.