[overflow] Re: GHHS

[mbottorff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Michelle & Boyd Bottorff)]

> I warn people that deliberately defying others and 
> repudiating stereotypes gives the others as much power as 
> deliberately obeying them.  You're not free until you can go
> your own way without caring what other people think. 

My dad used to tease me saying, "Hey Michelle, the clothes you wear are
coming into style, what are you going to do?"

But I wore what I wore because I liked it, and fashion could go hang.
(Actually, of course, like most people interested in costuming I pay a
certain amount of attention to fashion.  I just don't plan to FOLLOW
what has become one of the most effective marketting scams of all time.
When things that I like DO come into fashion, I look forward eagerly to
being able to pick them up in the used clothing stores next year.)

Most teen rebels, of course, wear exactly what their fellow teen rebels
are wearing. 

> (And I
> wonder whether the cure for bullying and being bullied might
> be just special assignments for everybody involved to fill up
> what was obviously too much spare time that they didn't know how
> to use properly.)

Well filling up their spare time DOES work, yes, but without the
pressure of having to pay for their daily bread and board, most kids are
not motivated to work strongly enough that it actually WILL fill up all
that spare time.

Some kids will work on their own, without supervision, and they are
usually NOT the problem.

The ones that NEED to have their hands kept busy, also need to have
someone watching over them to see that they ARE keeping their hands
busy.

So *who* is going to do the watching?

With most parents working full time, there isn't enough adult
supervisional hours to go around.

I strongly reccommend concerned adults volenteering to provide this sort
of time and attention for the kids at their local schools.  Start a
gaming club or a music club or something.  It isn't as good a solution
as actually having a full time parent on hand,  but it's much better
than nothing, and it DOES give the bullied kids a safe place to go.

Michelle Bottorff
Lady Lavender

-- 
Family webpage:  http://home.sprintmail.com/~mbottorff/index.html
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