Florida Archdiocese Permits After-School Cyberbullying, Then Brazenly Blames Parents

Thanks to Florida’s tough new school anti-bullying laws, which earned that state a rating of A++ with Bully Police USA, parents are now able to set the Miami Archdiocese straight about another one of it’s areas of perverted morality. As though condoning the sexual abuse of children by priests weren’t enough, the Catholic Archdiocese allows students to bully each other after school hours, according to a new lawsuit. Click here to read the full story. Apparently the Catholic church, that bastion of archaic morality, has failed to realize that once a student is enrolled in a school, that school becomes legally responsible for the student’s behavior round-the-clock. And to make matters worse, the Archdiocese had the gall to suggest that parents show some accountability for what their children do when they’re at home. “At some point, the parents must kick in and know what's going on,” the Archdiocese spokesperson and lawsuit defendant, Mary Ross Agosta, brazenly asserted.

According to the article, the school, Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, has an anti-bully policy forbidding kids to use cell phones during school hours. As the Archdiocese spokesperson Agosta explained, “Students must leave their cell phones in lockers and the school does not have Internet access.”

Since the bullies were not permitted to cyber-bully in school, the bullies requested permission from the school principal to use their cell phones and computers to bully their victim after school hours. “Sure, you have my permission,” said the principal. “And my blessing. That snotty little witch [referring to the teenage plaintiff] has been doing nothing but snitching on kids for picking on her. She is a female Judas, and I hope you kids give her what she deserves. Do you need my permission in writing, or is my spoken word sufficient?” Unfortunately, the bullies said they did not need her written permission, so the above factual account is conveniently being denied by the Archdiocese.

What shocked me most, though, is the paltry sum that’s being requested in the lawsuit: a miserly “more than $15,000.” Perhaps this is because it’s a Catholic school. If it were a Jewish school (and I can get away with saying this because I am a Jew) they would have sued for millions, as the financially savvy parents did in a recent bullying suit against a Jewish school in Florida. Is the suffering of a Jewish child really worth so much more than that of a Catholic?

[7.28.08 Addendum: Some people who read this blog took me too seriously. It is strictly satirical. I am not criticizing the church. I am making fun of our absurd anti-bully laws.]

[For a deeper understanding of anti-bully laws, read my articles, The Insanity of Workplace Anti-Bullying Laws and The Insanity of School Anti-Bullying Laws.]

Kentucky Murder-Suicide Highlights Danger Posed by Victims

I'm sure many of you heard the news last week of an angry young employee, Wesley Neal Higdon, who killed five people at a Henderson, Kentucky plastics factory where he worked, before taking his own life.

Such murder-suicides are not uncommon. A recent study by the Violence Policy Center found:

"more than 1,100 Americans died in murder-suicides in 2007. The murder-suicides included in the study range from high-profile mass shootings like the April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech massacre to familial shootings claiming the lives of spouses and children."

These horrific actions are committed by people who feel like victims. They are furious about the way they are treated and their anger builds up till they can't take it anymore. Finally, they lash out at their perceived tormenters, then take their own lives to end their misery. And these are only the statistics about murder-suicide. Many more people who feel victimized kill without taking their own lives.

But the modern world does not have a campaign against people who think and feel like victims. Society is only going after bullies. But bullies don't commit murder and suicide. Victims do. However, the worst thing anyone can do today is suggest that victims have anything to do with the way they are being treated. So we go after bullies instead, with the hope that if we can just get rid of bullies, there will be no victims, and these horrific murders and suicides will stop.

But, if anything, our anti-bullying policies are encouraging disgruntled workers to commit these horrible actions. If we are repeatedly bombarded with messages about how terrible bullies are...that bullies should not be tolerated...that bullying is a crime...that terrorism, rape, murder, slavery and genocide are acts of bullying, how should we react when we feel bullied by our employers and colleagues? Don't terrorists and rapists and murderers deserve to die? So we feel justified in wanting to kill, thanks to our ceaseless anti-bully education.

I often say at my seminars that no one gets insulted and criticized as much as I do. Because I dare to criticize the anti-bully movement as a misguided and counterproductive witch-hunt, explain how victims unwittingly reinforce their bullies, and teach victims how to stop being bullied all by themselves, many victims and victim-advocates want to see me dead. Don't believe me? Read the following email I recently received from D.T. (he does not want me to give his full name) with a nice email address of gofuckyourself@yahoo.com. Note that his gripe is not only against me, but against Jesus, as well. After all, we give the same advice. (By the way, I get many letters like this, but most are more inhibited in expressing their sentiments towards me.)

You disgust the Hell out of me. I hope you spend all eternity getting picked on in Hell. ____You obviously have no idea what you are talking about. You obviously were never the victim in school. If you had been the victim you would know what shit your advice really is._____From Bullies to Buddies_ is the stupidest advice I have ever heard. Would you tell a girl that is getting raped that it is somehow her fault? That_s what bullying is. A form of rape. What the victims need to be told is that they have the right to defend themselves. Enroll the kid in Martial Arts classes. Teach the kid how to fight. The bully will find another target. ____I am 48 years old. 35 years ago I was picked on unmercifully in High School. I didn_t fight back. I had the bible beating _turn the other cheek_ parents. That is the worst advice you can give. LEARN TO STAND UP FOR YOURSELF. Bullies always pick out the weakest target. Teach kids not to be a target.____If all else fails, BREAK THE BULLIES NOSE. IF BULLIES GOT THE SHIT KICKED OUT OF THEM, THEY WOULD LEARN SOME MANNERS.____THE ONLY GOOD BULLY IS A DEAD BULLY

And we're worried about bullies?

Best Wishes,

Izzy Kalman