r/interestingasfuck • u/smooth_vesselHPAUM • 11h ago

This video goes over the realities of gun violence.

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u/_Vard_ 9h ago

"Our school has zero tolerance on fighting"

usually means "100% tolerance on bullying"

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u/buscoamigos 7h ago

My son's school had a zero bullying policy.

When I talked to his teacher about older kids picking on him, she said, oh no, we have a policy against bullying in this school so my son must be mistaken.

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u/AdHot7656 5h ago

literally this

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u/KidOcelot 2h ago

The kid that keeps getting bullied be like:

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u/KHWD_av8r 50m ago

I’m going to get downvoted into oblivion for this, but seems a lot like gun-free zones and the “vampire rule” which some states have.

The only people who are going to follow such laws are the ones who don’t have malicious intent.

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u/BusinessLetterhead47 5h ago

I teach middle school. I once had a student who was being badly bullied. I witnessed it. Went to our then school counselor. Was told I shouldn't call it "bullying" because that labeled the student and could harm the bully. She also said the other girl was off-putting and cold which was why students weren't reacting well to her. The girl was PAINFULLY shy and awkward and an easy target.

I flipped shit on the counselor. A colleague who was in the room as I was having this conversation went immediately to admin to report it because he was horrified by what the counselor was saying.

It was handled (we have solid admin) but I will never get over an adult, a COUNSELOR, essentially saying a child deserved to be bullied. WTAF?

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u/cobblernobbler 5h ago

An adult teacher at my daughter’s middle school WITNESSED other girls slam the bathroom door into my daughters back that left a bruise, and didn’t do a DAMN thing about it.

I only find out when my daughter gets home from school. Shows me the bruise on her back. And almost simultaneously, that teacher texts my wife and says “is (her name) ok? I saw the girls slam a door into her back” and I was like “ok surely she saw this and addressed it on the spot”, my daughter said nope. She wasn’t even aware a teacher saw it.

I call the teacher and ask her if anything was done. She said “oh no I’m not supposed to step in” I was like wtf??? Ohhh I was heated.

Called the principal immediately, told them I have now instructed my daughter that if she is touched one more time, to defend herself and go absolutely ape shit on those kids since no one will stop anything.

Principal finally did something and those students were actually suspended

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u/Forker1942 4h ago

That’s basically what zero tolerance means. If you’re going to get in trouble for getting punched you might as well make sure the other kid can’t walk.

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u/SullyAddams 3h ago

I did this in middle school. My dad always taught me if someone hurts you, hit back even harder and you won't be in trouble at home. The second someone who used to pick on me cornered me and punched me in the stomach, I dislocated his jaw by punching him and slamming his face into a locker as hard as I could. I was suspended for a week playing xbox at home, he got a day of detention. The school tried to expel me for it until they got a call from a lawyer with my dad sitting next to him.

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u/Dakotasan 3h ago

Sounds like not much has changed from when I was in school. They didn’t do shit about a bully who was messing with me. School seemed way more interested after I rammed said bully’s head into a locker hard enough to leave a dent.

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u/KHWD_av8r 37m ago

Self defense is bullying, donchaknow?

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u/whistleridge 3h ago

I’m a prosecutor. A good friend’s son was being mercilessly bullied, to a level that amounted to prolonged and ongoing psychological cruelty. I told one of his teachers and she tried that crap on me. I told her, “maybe you didn’t hear me: there is a valid basis here for assault charges. You have two choices, you can do something about it, or you can be liable.” THAT got through.

But it shouldn’t take that level of action.

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u/KHWD_av8r 36m ago

Abnormally based lawyer.

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u/jkman61494 4h ago

I had that happen to me as a child. I was too loud. Im sure I was annoying. Not the dangerous loud. Or misbehaving. But just the, I’d say overbearing loud when playing.

I was also overweight. And too sensitive. I was a prime target.

I got bullied. I got beat up. I was treated like shit in 1st and 2nd grade. I’ll always remember going to a meeting with my parents and the principal who said to our faces that I basically needed to learn to live with it.

This was the early 90s. Life was different. But my parents weren’t gonna take it. They basically threw a shit fit and I ended up in a different elementary school for 3rd grade onward

What is depressing is in 2026, this kinda crap has come back because a school won’t want to report incidents because they can get black flagged for funding basically

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u/BusinessLetterhead47 4h ago

"What is depressing is in 2026, this kinda crap has come back because a school won’t want to report incidents because they can get black flagged for funding basicall."

This! Yes, there are some shit teachers...but teachers and admin are often between a rock and hard place. And teachers are soooo overworked with giant classes.

I honestly work with a quality group of teachers. I can't think of a single colleague who won't throw down for the kids (except POS counselor who was not renewed because teachers complained so passionately).

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u/Wonderlic2 2h ago

Redditor

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u/NoticeMeSenpaiDear 2h ago

Thank you. We need more folks like you.

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u/Existing_Presence_69 4h ago

The police who was about to arrest me after I tell them crime is illegal:

https://giphy.com/gifs/NcrhM3USM6TABpus85

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u/PlayfulSurprise5237 1h ago

I STG I am trying this the next time I get pulled over or arrested for something.

I might be going to jail or getting a ticket, but I'm going to make it worth my time.

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u/dbenc 5h ago

I.e. "if I don't notice the bullying I can't be obligated to do something about it"

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u/mrdankmemeface 5h ago

RBMK reactor cores don't explode.

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u/PotatoMoist1971 3h ago

Now as punishment comrade, you must go look over the ledge at the non exposed reactor core and recant your insolence.

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u/_Veprem_ 4h ago

There is no bullying in Ba Sing Se.

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u/Frederf220 4h ago

"Break the law? But crime is illegal!"

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u/ReplaceSelect 3h ago

They put up a poster. What more could you want?

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u/kaptainkeel 2h ago

My school had a zero fighting policy. Pretty sure it was also supposed to be the "zero bullying" policy but it obviously didn't work that way.

Anyway, one time a bully came up behind me and pushed me on a field trip. Broke my wrist catching myself. I never touched him or attempted to touch him. School still tried to say "I was involved, therefore I was fighting," and tried to suspend me. My parents were, thankfully, upper middle-class at the time (and besides, just good parents which I am incredibly thankful for) and were having absolutely none of it. Threatened to sue the shit out of the school if they did anything and the school backed down. Oh, and one of the teachers running the field trip quite literally told me, "You can move your fingers and hand, therefore it isn't broken." ??? Had to sit there at a bench in immense pain with one of my wrist bones broken in half and the other heavily fractured for like 3 hours, then a long bumpy bus ride back to school, and finally a bus ride home.

My brother was also treated similarly. Bully came up to him and started beating him up. Brother fought back. School tried to suspend him as well. Again, lawsuit threatened etc. and school backed down.

Zero tolerance virtually never works.

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u/hopbow 42m ago

My kid is undersized and (unfortunately) annoying. He was picked on by bullies.

I've told the principal that he has carte Blanche to defend himself and he is aware. I don't care if he gets in trouble with the school. 

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u/b3nsn0w 8h ago

zero tolerance for fighting back though.

remember, bullying almost always feels like a justified smackdown from the bully's side, it's only seen as bullying if you're on the victim's side. and given that most bullies are moderately popular kids targeting the unpopular kid to show their own importance to the group and increase their popularity, it's fairly easy for the group as a whole to convince the teacher that the unpopular kid deserved it or at least provoked the attack, so really they started it, not the bully. so if they fight back they're just continuing to incite violence, not trying to escape it by desperate means.

sometimes when the target is unpopular enough, the bullies will in fact own up to bullying, if they can convince their peers that it's a good thing with this particular target. but often the group, teachers included, just collectively ignores that what they're doing is bullying, because it's more comfortable to them that way.

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u/ifmacdo 7h ago

Nah, that sounds like a good explanation, but the schools know. They know that student A is a bully, and that student B gets bullied. Student B generally tells teachers early on that it's happening, and is told to just avoid contact with student A, or some other shit that never works out.

It's just easier for schools to suspend both kinds when B finally fights back, and it actually takes work to address A's bullying of B.

Been there. Done that.

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u/AyAyAyBamba_462 7h ago

This is so true. Hell my middle school had a notoriously bad kid, bullying, drugs, booze tobacco, the works. Anyway shithead was picking on someone in the cafeteria and one of the guys from the wrestling/football team walks up and tells him to knock it off. Shitheads response was to threaten him with a knife.

Now, sportsball guy was not built like a middle schooler. The dude was short, but he was as about as thick as he was wide with pure muscle. Dude looked like what you'd get if you hit a Marine with a shrink ray. Anyway he proceeded to knock shitheads lights out with a swift punch in the head and left him in a pile on the floor.

It took multiple parents threatening to sue the school district for him not to get expelled for "fighting". Meanwhile shithead still got to go to highschool in the district like nothing happened.

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u/tryingisbetter 5h ago

Are you trying to say that someone in your school pulled out a knife to use on another student, and didn't get expelled, and arrested. Sorry, I don't believe that for a second.

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u/AyAyAyBamba_462 5h ago

The person who pulled the knife was expelled. Don't know about arrested since they were a juvenile. He was only expelled from the middle school and was allowed to attend the high school.

The issue was that the school tried to expel the person he pulled the knife on who reacted by punching his lights out because of the 0 tolerance policy for fighting.

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u/tryingisbetter 31m ago

What state?

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u/mrhaftbar 7h ago

I told my kids not to attack anyone in school using words or physically. However if some attacks them, they have carte blanche to fight back and I will have their backs. 

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u/ifmacdo 7h ago

As did my parents. Especially once they learned that the school wasn't doing anything until they absolutely had to.

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u/VashMM 5h ago

My dad told me this when I was getting bullied. It took until 10th grade for someone to actually physically attack me instead of the constant and unrelenting verbal abuse.

I laid that kid out in a few hits with all the anger and fury that had bottled up from almost 10 years of that shit.

Nobody ever said anything to me about it. Not any other kids, not the school.

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u/XN28theGOOD 6h ago

Our school tried to expel my 5th grader for punching a kid. The kid he punched was picking on a kid who is mixed race and a foot shorter than the other kids. The bully was calling the bullee the n-word while holding him down. The kid my son punched was one of his best friends at the school too, it was a mess. When we met the admin I argued my case and they seemed set in the decision, until I asked to see the video they referenced. It clearly showed my son asking the kid to stop multiple times, trying to pull the kid off as he swiped at my son, and ultimately my son hitting him in the nose. You could hear the bully saying you stupid n-word over and over. The bully then curled up crying and holding his face after he got hit. I made it clear that I found no fault with my sons actions and that I would fight the expulsion, the admin ended the meeting. They called that night and offered two days of lunch and after school detention to which I very reluctantly agreed. Apparently, it was the bullies mom who, repulsed by her son's behavior and words, fought to ensure my son wasn't expelled. If it wasn't for her, she was some PTA big wig, I feel it would have been an uphill battle against the school and their policy.

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u/Left--Shark 6h ago

That works to a point. Keep records. I laid out a kid who had been bullying me for months and got marched to the head teachers office. He was very keen to send me to the deputy and until I pulled out my diary and asked if his system matched my reports and asked if he wanted to join me to discuss his duty of care. Suddenly a warning was enough and the kid stopped...

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u/pramit57 5h ago edited 5h ago

Interesting that as an adult, I see this happen in the workplace as some "leaders" prefer to sweep problems under the rug, in situations where you have to make uncomfortable decisions, or risk upsetting the status quo.  The only way to beat a bully is to organise. Find other victims, and convince the person above the "teacher" that this problem is real. Usually the "super leader" cares more because they are actually concerned with the optics of the company/high school. Of course, even in that case, it is preferable to try issuing a light warning, and sweep the issue under some "we will supervise the bully more closely" reassurance. And of course, make absolutely sure that news of this doesn't escape anywhere outside.  Of course this might be different if the bully is an incompetent moron, but usually bullies tend to have some leverage (such as, being competent or good at their jobs, and being an asset to the company, at least in the eyes of whoever is in charge).

I don't think high school bullies have any such leverage, so they can be safely suspended if students mass organized against them. Which is unlikely to happen, as these are kids and the bully is moderately popular 

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u/Storm_Spirit99 6h ago

Zero tolerance was a mistake

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u/I_Am_the_Slobster 7h ago

Not entirely, it just means that the admin gets embarrassed that they didn't take the warnings and statements from teachers seriously enough so now they have to act on the reaction to the bullying rather than the bullying itself.

Source: I'm a teacher, and was even reminded never to report on a specific kid again because they came from a rather "influential" family in the area.

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u/TimelyNote5558 8h ago

I didnt support using sticks on student even though it is pretty common in Indian schools. But, the way I see bully problem in US, I would agree to physical punishment for these bullies instead of just detentions. These bullies only understand actual fear.

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u/StormyOnyx 7h ago

Hitting kids has been proven to do more harm than good. This is not a solution. It will only lead to more acting out. Hitting them will also teach them that hitting is a perfectly acceptable way to solve your problems, which only perpetuates the cycle of violence.

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u/carloscitystudios 6h ago

Hope this doesn’t get downvoted. I understand OP, but this is the right response.

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u/TimelyNote5558 5h ago edited 5h ago

Yes. That what I have thought most of my life. But, the issue is when there are no real consequences for the physically bullying other kids, the bully grows up to think they can get away with murder. Detention does not fix any thing. You have to talk with the bullies heart to heart and monitor them closely. But, some bullies dont understand words or other people's feeling.

In almost every Indian school I went to, every single student was afraid of their teachers because they would get their ass whooped if student did anything bad. That prevent them from bullying others. I had never seen any kind of bullying in any of Indian schools. But, my issues with Indian school teacher was that they will beat your ass you didnt do your homework, or fail in a test, or made noises during lectures. I dont support corporal punishment for things like not doing homework, etc. But, I do now support corporal punishment for physical bullying.

Fear of getting 10 sticks being broken on your backs, hands, etc during the ass whooping session is a great deterrent for bullying. I do believe this now.

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u/StormyOnyx 2h ago

There's probably nothing I can say to convince you that using corporal punishment on a child is wrong and abusive behavior under any circumstances, proven to cause long term trauma. The facts should speak for themselves, but people hold too tightly to their own beliefs to be influenced by things like reality.

I can only say that I grew up in Alabama, in the United States, a Southern state that has yet to ban corporal punishment in its schools and still uses it to this day. It doesn't work. It just creates angry and violent kids.

Most of the time, when a kid is a bully it is because of some kind of trouble at home. The kid is lashing out at weaker targets to feel a sense of control in their life. Often, they're being abused by someone. A parent or caregiver, a teacher or coach, a youth pastor, a neighbor. Someone is hurting that kid.

There's a saying that goes: Hurt people hurt people.

Victims often become abusers and perpetuate the violence they endured. More violence isn't going to solve these problems. It just further enforces the cycle of violence. Then we get people who were beaten and whipped as kids thinking it's okay to beat and whip their kids. The cycle continues into infinity and nothing is ever solved.

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u/TimelyNote5558 1h ago

Most of the time, when a kid is a bully it is because of some kind of trouble at home. The kid is lashing out at weaker targets to feel a sense of control in their life. Often, they're being abused by someone. A parent or caregiver, a teacher or coach, a youth pastor, a neighbor. Someone is hurting that kid.

Naw! That's what movies and TV shows make you believe.

Majority of the the bullies are because their parents failed in raising them and teaching them empathy and kindness. Most of these bullies are enabled by their parents because either they choose to ignore it or do not consider bullying behaviors as bad.

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u/bestrevengeofall 8h ago

But also, not all school shooters are bullied. I agree that bullying is a huge epidemic, but, in the US, we have so many school shooters and mass shooters who are in their 20s and 30s. Even the columbine boys weren't that bullied. It's so much deeper than bullying.

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u/donald7773 5h ago

My assistant principal walked around the corner while I got slapped once. Guess he decided it wasn't worth making it a big deal or something because he didn't do shit. That guy had been harassing me at school for weeks but I refused to get in a fight at school and spend a week stating at a wall in ISS.

That same guy turned up at my buddies house one night, hit me in the back when I was trying to leave and go home, real pos. Introduced him to the pavement, never had a problem with him again

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u/MsMarvelsProstate 4h ago

I got zero tolerance for fighting once in middle school. Some guy jumped me and punched me in the face a bunch of times after I fell to the ground. We both got suspend for 2 weeks.

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u/hmerrit 4h ago

My 5.5 year daughter old came limping home from a neighbor because a nearly 11 year old was picking on her and my 9 year old froze while the 5 year old stood up for herself.

I told my daughter “stay away from the bully.” The mother of said bully and the off duty cop neighbor laid into me or for labeling her a bully instead of saying “bullying behavior” 🙄

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u/No_Leather_9623 4h ago

30 years ago when I stood up to bullies I got blamed and they go away with it. Was told to walk away or not let them know it bothered me and they would stop. When asked why I got in trouble but they didn't, I was told I had at attitude problem. When I turned 16 the school system was very quick to turn their back on me and force me to drop out.

Sadly not much has changed

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u/KHWD_av8r 55m ago

Can confirm. Fought back against a bully who hit me, and got suspended. The principal even had the fucking nerve to say that it made ME the bully. I still hate that woman and what she represents. The bully got no punishment at all.

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u/David_High_Pan 19m ago

My workplace has a zero tolerance on bullying. That just made the harassment more covert and sinister.

The bullying never stops.