tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5962387768878570514.post964937500344059035..comments2023-10-03T23:17:59.861-04:00Comments on Puerile Psyche: Indifference to BullyingMarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5962387768878570514.post-4608434692385024422023-10-03T23:17:59.861-04:002023-10-03T23:17:59.861-04:00Grrateful for sharing thisGrrateful for sharing this?aoaivouuehttps://mathainoumeellinikiistoria.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5962387768878570514.post-75239654686266822412009-08-24T16:35:19.917-04:002009-08-24T16:35:19.917-04:00If in fact school officials callously disregarded ...If in fact school officials callously disregarded this young man's complaints, I certainly hope he wins his lawsuit. There is no excuse for such conduct by supposedly responsible educators; it is incumbent upon them to provide an atmosphere free of harrassment for any reason. This situation is yet another reminder that, even in this day and age, a large segment of society still regards homosexuals as second-class citizens - or worse. That is the salient point of my recently released biographical novel, Broken Saint. It is based on my forty-year friendship with a gay man, and chronicles his internal and external struggles as he battles for acceptance (of himself and by others). More information on the book is available at www.eloquentbooks.com/BrokenSaint.html.<br /><br />Mark Zamen, authorAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5962387768878570514.post-6751863691692806032009-08-21T14:06:50.606-04:002009-08-21T14:06:50.606-04:00Originally I posed the issue about "sexual or...Originally I posed the issue about "sexual orientation" vs. "sexual ability" as a question much the way you worded it Selfish Giant, because I don't know much about what the law says, if anything, regarding "minor sexual orientation." As far as I'm concerned, status crime laws don't regulate terms or define people (other than to classify them by legal age), but instead simply define what is legal and what is not for minors to do. <br /><br />My stance was, if the reasoning behind the law is that kids can't have sex because they don't have a sexuality, how can it be protected? Youth status crime laws are not based on the reasoning that youth need to be protected from unwanted sexual advances, because they prosecute all youth sexual behavior--whether cognizant or not, whether wanted or not. Perhaps the reasoning is that youths have the capacity to be sexual, but if they are, it is criminal.<br /><br />In any case, you're correct. I only included the issue of homosexuality because it seemed to be the main thrust of the lawsuit. The real issue here is whether or not the school was indifferent to the bullying this student received.Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5962387768878570514.post-40595006288762715632009-08-21T06:39:58.389-04:002009-08-21T06:39:58.389-04:00The point that young people do not legally have &q...The point that young people do not legally <em>have</em> "sexual orientation" is a neat one? But is it, strictly speaking, valid? Can one legally <em>have</em> a sexual orientation even if it's not legal for one to perform the external sexual acts one would like to?<br /><br />Without wishing to sound too conservative, this leads me to think that it's quite wrong to make the putative motivation behind the bullying an issue. The school should be defending the child's right not be bullied, not specifically his sexuality, race, sex, or whatever.<br /><br />In any event, bullies will always pick on those weaker than themselves. It's a mistake to try to engage them on some sort of rational level over why they choose to bully the victims they do.The Selfish Gianthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02417728814410370666noreply@blogger.com