timberwraithFeb 25, 2024

"Bullying is a normal part of growing up."

Is the same as saying:

1) It's normal for my child to assault others when they don't like someone.

2) It's normal for schools be a place where beatings and emotional abuse take place.

3) Being beaten and traumatized is a normal learning experience for children, both for the child who assaults others and for the children being assaulted.

4) There is something wrong with a child who doesn't prosper under conditions of emotional and physical abuse.

Show threadtimberwraithFeb 25, 2024

I have to say, if you're an adult who believes bullying is a normal part of the process of growing up, I hope you don't have children of your own because you just revealed to me that you think some forms of child abuse are acceptable.

I think that makes you a monster.

Show threadtimberwraith

Oh, is that upsetting?

Speaking as an adult who still suffers from the emotional trauma of being a child who was regularly bullied, I can assure you that your sentiments are fucking monstrous.

Feb 25, 2024 at 7:12pmWeb
Show threadIntransitive Lie(moved)Feb 25, 2024
@timberwraith
Bullying is a normal part of growing up and it fucking shouldn't be.
Show threadJargogglesFeb 25, 2024
@intransitivelie @timberwraith
Bullying is a *common part of growing up. There's nothing normal about it.
Show threadIntransitive Lie(moved)Feb 25, 2024
@jargoggles @timberwraith
I agree, but I also think "normal" is a word which is typically used to put people in their place, so in this case bullying is "normal" because "normal" is bullying.
Show threadJargogglesFeb 25, 2024
@intransitivelie @timberwraith
Exactly. "Normal" carries the connotation that something is an acceptable baseline. There are lots of things that are common, typical, frequent, widespread, etc. that aren't normal by any measure. Language is a powerful thing.
Show threadErosBlog Bacchus has moved!Feb 26, 2024
@timberwraith I recently had the distasteful experience of mentioning childhood bullying on Facebook only to have one of my actual bullies from 45 years ago parachute in and try, in the weakest virtual sense, to reprise the experience. "Bullying is a normal part of growing up" is almost an exact quote of something they said while dumping on me for having the audacity to complain about the toxic environment we shared back in those days.
Show threadElizabeth SudduthFeb 26, 2024
@ErosBlog @timberwraith Occasionally Facebook mentions I might know someone who I've known since I was 3 and who bullied me constantly in 8th grade to the point where I stayed home from school nearly as often as I went. No I don't need to know what's going on in her life, Facebook. I do not care.