The Skut Farkas Affair Revisited or Bullies Suck!

There is a fansite dedicated to the fictional but realistic villain Skut Farkas a character in the film, Broadway play and recent musical  A Christmas Story. Skut terrorized Ralphie, his little brother and friends with the help of his toadie/henchkid Grover Dill. Can you imagine a website for fans of a bully? Yes, they are all fictional characters and Skut does get his comeuppance via Ralphie's fists known in cinematic lore as the "Skut Farkas Affair", however there is nothing cute about the evolution of bullying since 1949.

From the playground to the school yard to the world of business, politics and dare I include organized religion, there are elements of bullying. Some examples are simple, obvious and easier to erase. Other types can be more perverse, underhandedly attacking where you feel the safest, but are the most vulnerable and have had tragic if not deadly consequences.

Nothing here to joke about I am afraid. Nations can be bullied as can world leaders along with entire populations when subjected to repressive legislation targeting any segment whether the motivation be racial, religious belief, lack of religious belief or class.

Children are the most at risk. Records show that cyber bullying has led to deaths in children as young as 12. (Just Google cyber bullying suicides if you are interested is seeing the list.) The latest I saw reported was  a 12 year old earlier this year. It isn't just happening here. The listing I saw also had kids from Canada and I am sure other parts of the world have similar issues, but with a population less than 10% of ours the actual number may seem small, but with indications that in European countries as well as Japan and Korea the population is shrinking. In Denmark they have been shutting down or combining schools due to a lack of students. There aren't as many children being born for financial or cultural reasons. Children have a tremendous amount of pressure put on them to excel in school and become successful. Korea has a horrific suicide rate among young people so the loss of even one child in those countries is devastating .

In these tense political times where our nation is so sharply divided politically bullying runs rampant with social media as the perfect place for attacking those who disagree. Lively discourse through which differing ideologies and opinions are voiced between parties is now being replaced by trolls who butt in and only know how to respond with personal attacks. They offer no intelligent opinions nor want any exchange of ideas other than to defame your for your beliefs and/or attempt to disrupt any bias in opposition to their thinking.

Facebook is no place for serious political research or conversation. You are spoon fed what you see based on Zuckerberg's minions gathering your wants via your clicks and other information. In addition you have no clue where the "news" is coming from or if what you are being fed is based on fact. Anyone can sign up for a FB account or pay for a business account. How do you think the Ruskies planted that "fake" news?

This crap has got to stop. We have to change our thinking and the way we bring up our kids. If there is an illness involved (aka bipolar, manic depression, etc) even more safegaurds  have to be put in place. When we empower our youth our intent is to help them become independent, thoughtful contributors to our future. However not every kid is going to be able to process that without supervision and care. The number of latchkey kids continues to rise with  both or the single parent having to work long hours in order to make ends meet. There needs to be more available to help those families.

So I hate bullies. Having been an Army brat and moving every two to three years I understand the process very well. New kid on the playground? My sister would run to our stairwell and call up to my mom, "They're beating Michael up again!" Call it the Sandbox Rites Of Passage for military kids. As the others rotated out I gradually moved up in the hierarchy until another kid's sister ran to her stairwell while we welcomed another to the sandbox. Then it would be our turn to rotate out and the process would repeat.

If you have kids, invade their privacy. If they won't talk to you or you notice a change in their personality get help. Keep your local suicide hotline number close by. Listen to your kids. Give them all time you can and hug 'em tight. It's your responsibility to keep them safe.

Single parents without custody...when they visit you don't have to be the entertainer. Show a stable environment and promote family. You may never live together again, but no matter where they go or where you wind up, remind them that you will always be their father or mother.