‘Why do you think they targeted you?’
‘Because they’re dickheads? I don’t know. They’re like a pack. They have to make someone else feel like shit in order to feel good about themselves.’
Jodi Picoult
I saw Hostel (the Indian movie on ragging) & it’s definitely an eye opener. These students commit all sorts of crimes & very conveniently call it ragging. They choose specific students & then go on bullying them forever. On top of it, they have the audacity to say that we are helping them out; they won’t be able to survive in the world & we’re making them real men. And in this process, they even rape them.
Actually I want to talk about bullying & harassment basically, but it won’t be fair if I won’t talk about the movie. It’s not a must watch. The protagonist is the only guy who looks like a student; the rest of them are really too old & they seem more like street thugs or chauffeurs. And these bastards are after one boy; he even commits suicide in the end. In fact a teacher also supports these bullies & he’s so shameless that even makes out with a whore in front of his students.
I once read this study on bullies. They are basically mentally sick people. They might have suffered & so they make sure they hurt others. It makes them feel good. But I don’t think a victim would be interested in the history of someone who is mentally or physically harassing him. And I don’t even see any justification. If someone has tortured you, go after that person rather than bullying innocent people.
Bullying anyone anywhere is a serious felony, but unfortunately, these culprits get away with it. People who ought to be behind bars go on harassing anyone who is weaker than them. It’s pure mental torture & a person can commit suicide, but no one ever takes it seriously except the victims.
Cyber bullying is another way of harassing people on the net. In this one, the victims have no option but to ignore the bullies. I have never seen any site taking any action whatsoever against those who bully. Actually I have been a victim myself & it has been 6 years. Now I don’t care, cause you eventually grow. It has been so long that my family & friends only make fun of him. In fact I have also not heard anyone who has been cyber bullied for so long. Usually it lasts for a year. I guess as long as I’m on the net, this thing would continue.
The fact is people are harassed everywhere & there’s not much that can be done about it. While I was in the university, I often used to hear about these harassment cases in which teachers bullied their students. Even we had one such piece in our department. What makes these harassment cases far more dangerous is how people talk & spread rumors. Some students are of course sensitive but some students are just plain bitchy. When I was bothered by my professor, I also got this call from my senior that all the students (juniors & seniors) had this discussion & they think that I ought to leave the uni, cause the teacher cannot concentrate. Naturally I went to my Chairman the next day & everything was taken care, but while I was there, some students couldn’t get over it. It was a terrible experience for me but I had the support of 2 teachers.
I have never been able to understand why do people keep mum about such things. More than that, when someone informs, no action is taken against the culprits.
I think last year, a teenager was severely beaten up by 4 girls & they even made the video, & you could see that on Youtube. However, the clip was removed, but you can imagine the torment that poor girl must have been through. They used to bully her on a daily basis & then they even humiliated her on the net.
This thing happens everywhere but still we have people who ask the rotten question ‘why you of all people?’ I don’t think we can have all the answers, but this world would be a better place, if people become a little understanding & compassionate. They make matters even worse. We go to school, college & university to acquire knowledge but look at the irony we are bullied & humiliated there by a bunch of psychos who ought to be in mental asylums.
Which reminds me of this school in Pakistan where students were being raped & not just that, they were even forced to prostitute themselves. Teachers were involved. In fact 6 staff members were together in this heinous crime & this practice went on for 20 years till some ex students dared to speak up against this.
I have 2 questions: Can we actually ignore this? And does it give everyone the right to judge the victims? You may never know but you could know someone who is seriously into bullying people. You can’t really know whether someone is ever whom they seem to be.
