This is NOT a discussion of who is mean and who isn't, nor is it directed at any members of the site. Period.

What I ask is this: does being a mean person have some positive messages?

The question may be a little too confusing, so here's a better way of trying to say what I want to say.

And I will be honest, at high school I was a first class jerk. I threw things at people and made fun of others, even laughing at other people's pain. However, I supported my offensive behavior because I believed that I was, actually, helping people. By being a jerk people would be more apt to defend themselves, and stand up to me and my behavior.

So, is this a legitiment statement (that by throwing obstacles at others) they become better people, or is bullying just bullying?

I hate people like you, but everyones actions makes them who they are.

So logically, yes.
But for people getting bullied at the time, no.

Sometimes it takes someone like that to say things that need to be said that others are too afraid to say...

So, in some instances... yes.

I'm only mean to the people who deserve it, the attention whores. Emo kids.

Bah, bullies like that only made me wish I could take action. I can't even spray a jerk with a hose without being too afraid of what might happen afterwards. So no, I don't buy into that "it's for your own good" excuse.

Yeah, and I'm pretty sure there are many studies that show that kids raised in adequately supportive families grow up much more stable than those raised in abusive ones. Of course those raised in overly supportive families tend to exhibit narcissism and unrealistic faith in their abilities, and thus become spoiled.

So no I don't think bullying teaches people anything, other than people are mean. Really it would be nice to live without the constant fear of such torment for all. Plus the way our rules currently are there is no chance of having positive reenforcement since when the kid finally lashes out at his oppressor he becomes the bad guy, the teachers and authorities don't go "well that guy deserved it", they just put the bullied kid in ISS or kick him out of school, and the bully gets nothing.

As for who deserves to be mistreated, I would certainly like to know how one reaches that conclusion. They must certainly think themselves quite high and mighty to believe they have that kind of authority.

So I guess as an analogy, at some point you have to take the training wheels off the bike, but that doesn't mean you actively try to push or kick the kid riding over. That will only teach him that no matter what he does he will fail, or that riding fast away from everyone is the only good course of action. I think bullies just say that so they can justify their otherwise frowned upon actions. So yes you may 'harden' someone, but there are much better ways to do so, and ones without such a high probability of shattering someone.

I don't know that they become better people. They might learn a lesson that they otherwise would not have learned, but they might also suffer a trauma that they might otherwise not have suffered. To think that they are automatically 'better' because of your treatment is naive.

If you really wanted to help them, then you weren't acting as a bully until they asked you or told you to stop. If you didn't stop, you were a bully.

Depends on your classification of "mean". I know at my high school a lot of people claim certain teachers are "mean" because they push the students to try harder. This isn't "mean" this is being helpful. Sometimes you gotta be a little "mean" and push people to go against their natural intentions.

I used to be like that, and have since changed my ways. I used my own experinces as an example.

Sometimes being mean to people can mean a lot of things. Say, if you like someone but to afraid to tell them you just act mean, or you act mean to just protect yourself from others who are more meaner, or just mean for no reasons.

@1ce-Glad to hear you've change your ways ^^

As you all may have read in the thread that Ix made. I was very much picked on at school. I never thought people who bullied had a good reason for it. I thought that there maybe something going on, at there homes thats hurting them inside and they need to vent it out on people who have no control over them.

True story,
My mom and dad.. When ever I did wrong they would send me to my room. Always. They would scream at me. Once my dad took me by my hair and dragged me in my room. My mom was a bit on the slap happy side too.

Anyways. One day when my folks where "not" home. Mind you I was about 6 or 7. I took the family dog and locked him in the closet. I did it because I was curious to see how it felt to have power over something. The results I found was.. I did not feel good about doing it. I thought I would have. I thought maybe, my folks where feeling some kind of satisfaction every time they sent me to my room. There was no satisfaction. There was just me alone with my dog in the closet. I think its really the bully who's feeling more pain the the person who's being bullied.

You're probably just not that kind of person. I'm sure many of those who bully get some enjoyment out of it. I mean, they're usually laughing when they do so. Like, maniacally.

I don't think it's good to bully people at all in school. Here's why- they end up snapping and hating their lives and making choices that aren't necessarily the best because of it.

My school had a clan of Yu-Gi-Oh card nerds who just would sit at a table in the cafeteria in the morning and play them. One kid who is now deceased from a rare and fatal heart attack was always very stressed because of bullies. He couldn't be himself in school without getting picked on in the middle of class, sometimes teachers did it too. Know what happened? He snapped when some kid decided to play the bully and got into a fight with him because the kid stole his bag and hat. It's stupid as hell to bully people because you don't know their background, and you could be causing them mental trauma. That particular dude had a TERRIBLE home life in which his parents apparently didn't even want him since he was 14 or so. People simply knew him by "Crazy [name]". I'm even guilty of being ignorant of the situation by laughing at the antics that would go on. The guy died alone on a train track from a heart attack that was a bit genetic and mostly stressful.

Then there was Yu-Gi-Oh card kid who growled at my friend when she tried to help him pick up his cards when a bully threw them in the hall. It's sad what bullying does to a person's trust.

And that's my next point. Stereotype groups. I'm glad they dissipate for the most part at college besides the Ameriskanks and the man whores. Everyone else seems to be pretty cool there, and get along since it's a new base.

I've been treated mean before as well sometimes, everyone has at one point or another. Here's my perspective- do unto others as you would like yourself. I don't like being chastised, so I'm not going to do it to someone else.

Hate is the work of the devil.

I think we should ban all hate from our lives.

Fayorei, I see alot of truth behind your post.
I agree with you.

@Fayorei and 1ce

Maybe the golden rule worked for 1ce. In other words, if he himself also wanted to be jerked around so that he could learn from other jerks/bullies/mean people, then he was in fact acting the way you suggested (i.e. the golden rule).

Was that the case 1ce?