>> about her main teacher, wanting Lakia to make her tail "less of a target." It's well-intentioned, I /think,/ but it comes across a bit less accepting than Mr. Keaner. <<
These two things are equally true. It's not that the teacher herself feels that there is anything wrong with having a tail, but rather that she figures society is never going to accept it, so that minimizing it is advisable.
>> I mean, would it even OCCUR to her to tell a kid with sparkly pink eyeglasses to make /them/ less of a target? <<
Probably so. And here's the really ugly part: sometimes that works. If there's a trait you can change, it might make you less of a target, might not. But if you can make yourself physically less vulnerable, that does tend to improve the odds. I've known people who, for example, cut their hair or quit wearing certain things so as to deprive bullies of a handle.
*chuckle* A completely different setting, but in Seshaa, the bandit term for body jewelry translates as "fool's handles."
Most techniques meant to discourage bullying do not work. But some things that do work, also have serious drawbacks. It's like rape education. You're putting the burden on the victim, because society can't figure out how to make the perpetrator quit hurting people.
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dancing_serpent
Re: I've been thinking--
Date: 2014-07-14 09:05 am (UTC)These two things are equally true. It's not that the teacher herself feels that there is anything wrong with having a tail, but rather that she figures society is never going to accept it, so that minimizing it is advisable.
>> I mean, would it even OCCUR to her to tell a kid with sparkly pink eyeglasses to make /them/ less of a target? <<
Probably so. And here's the really ugly part: sometimes that works. If there's a trait you can change, it might make you less of a target, might not. But if you can make yourself physically less vulnerable, that does tend to improve the odds. I've known people who, for example, cut their hair or quit wearing certain things so as to deprive bullies of a handle.
*chuckle* A completely different setting, but in Seshaa, the bandit term for body jewelry translates as "fool's handles."
Most techniques meant to discourage bullying do not work. But some things that do work, also have serious drawbacks. It's like rape education. You're putting the burden on the victim, because society can't figure out how to make the perpetrator quit hurting people.
There's no easy solution.