Would you have changed anything?

[darman1817]

Good for her!

[gary13136]

Another thing I would have left out is Oskar's pill ball.

I thought that was a good way of showing how much Oskar is damaged by the bullying.

Yes, it definitely did that, but in such a freaky way. It is hard to believe this level of bullying could have gone on so long without any adult intervention. The book makes it clear that all the other kids were aware of it, so how did all the teachers miss it?

I've read a couple of articles from Sweden in the past year that indicate bullying in Swedish schools is still a serious problem. And children specifically state that they don't trust adults to do anything about it. I don't know if Sweden does so, but locally law-enforcement has been maintaining school protection for a number of years now. I never noticed any type of physical bullying in my school days, but the "psychological" type did go on.

[Struan]

I have been reading an alarmingly increasing amount of news lately about child suicides provoked by bullying in the USA. I have to admit I had no idea of how serious the problem is. I always come across these stories by chance, but I don't know if things have always been bad and it's just that I'm just noticing them (and thank you LTROI for raising awareness), or if there's really been an increase in worst case scenarios in the last few years (which I would find hardly surprising). At least one of the articles I read mentioned that there is one key difference nowadays compared to cases from the past -- it used to be that bullied kids could at least count on finding a haven from the aggression of their peers in the safety of their own homes, once they got back from school/gym etc., but today there are plenty of ways for the harassing and humilliation to continue well beyond the limits of that haven, through Facebook, email, text messaging, etc. Essentially this means that a bullied kid may have literally no respite from his/her tormentors and have every bit of his life invaded by them. This is so incredibly sad and disheartening...

(Going back on topic, about changing anything from the novel: I too would excise the zombie Hakan's segments, but I'd also like to trim the largely inconsequential Staffan/Tommy subplot. It would make for a tighter book.)

[gattoparde59]

(Going back on topic, about changing anything from the novel: I too would excise the zombie Hakan's segments, but I'd also like to trim the largely inconsequential Staffan/Tommy subplot. It would make for a tighter book.)

I would agree, except that Staffan is revealed as being a bully also.

[genie47]

There is this book about bullying in Singapore schools.

It is psychological as well as physical. Kudos to the authors. I have this book. Maybe as a keyhole to understanding why I reacted that way. Full of anguish and teeth clenching with hatred and vengeance.Control is something bullied kids have to grapple with. This including emotions resulting from being bullied.

The main reason bullying, well in the context of Singapore schools, is taking place is due to differences. As long as you stick out as a sore thumb, and this could be anything from a slight disability to even having a weird accent for no reason (of which I was picked for), you will be a target.

http://www.selectbooks.com.sg/getTitle. ... Num=048784

Most books about bullying are written in context of other countries' experience. This is a first for us here.

[lombano]

The main reason bullying, well in the context of Singapore schools, is taking place is due to differences. As long as you stick out as a sore thumb, and this could be anything from a slight disability to even having a weird accent for no reason (of which I was picked for), you will be a target.

It's probably the same everywhere. picking on anyone who seems different.

[gary13136]

If you have ever watched a group of people (and especially young people), the one thing that comes to mind is how much alike their behaviour is. It is nearly impossible to be a non-conformist in most any society you might think of. Those who don't conform are very quickly marginalized. So someone like Oskar is hardly unique. The two worst places IMHO to be a non-conformist would be the workplace and school. It's rather sad that school, which should be an instructive, creative, and enjoyable experience, all too often becomes a winnowing-out experience. I remember quite well in high school that kids who weren't going on to college were quite often ridiculed in classes in front of teachers. Who of course said nothing. Not all bullying is physical. Some of the worst is verbal.

[lombano]

If you have ever watched a group of people (and especially young people), the one thing that comes to mind is how much alike their behaviour is. It is nearly impossible to be a non-conformist in most any society you might think of. Those who don't conform are very quickly marginalized. So someone like Oskar is hardly unique. The two worst places IMHO to be a non-conformist would be the workplace and school. It's rather sad that school, which should be an instructive, creative, and enjoyable experience, all too often becomes a winnowing-out experience.

But schools are worse than workplaces because at least in the workplace you might be valued as a useful employee/colleague, and people might be wary of alienating someone whose help they may want later or with whom they might have to collaborate on something; there are other things at stake. But in school few things have any real short-term consequences and there are few real responsibilities, the social life can be vicious precisely because the stakes are so low.

[gary13136]

If you have ever watched a group of people (and especially young people), the one thing that comes to mind is how much alike their behaviour is. It is nearly impossible to be a non-conformist in most any society you might think of. Those who don't conform are very quickly marginalized. So someone like Oskar is hardly unique. The two worst places IMHO to be a non-conformist would be the workplace and school. It's rather sad that school, which should be an instructive, creative, and enjoyable experience, all too often becomes a winnowing-out experience.

But schools are worse than workplaces because at least in the workplace you might be valued as a useful employee/colleague, and people might be wary of alienating someone whose help they may want later or with whom they might have to collaborate on something; there are other things at stake. But in school few things have any real short-term consequences and there are few real responsibilities, the social life can be vicious precisely because the stakes are so low.

I would agree with you about school being the worst of the two; I should have mentioned school before workplace. However, from my own personal work experiences and observations (covering over 40 years), work is a very close second. The bullying, not surprisingly, is almost entirely psychological. However, it is potentially for more dangerous in that it occasionally leads to workplace killings; all too often involving the innocent. I know of several instances locally where people died. The workplace is incredibly competitive, and I do know of instances where individuals were "ganged up on" by workmates in order to get someone fired. The lust for power is to be found in small groups as well as large nations. And I would be willing to wager that those who indulged in this sort of thing in the workplace also indulged in it at school. But for obvious reasons, they learn to be very discrete. Because physically they are cowards. With physical bullies, at least you know who you are dealing with. But psychological bullies, well, it could be someone who pretends to be your pal. Maybe even associating with you away from the job, but on the job trying to take advantage of you. And like school officials ignoring bullying, workplace management is guilty also of knowing about this and allowing it. Of course now, everyone's experiences are different; maybe you've never had to deal with this sort of thing and maybe you never will. Consider yourself fortunate if you don't encounter it. But it does exist.

[TigerEyes]

I would agree with you about school being the worst of the two; I should have mentioned school before workplace. However, from my own personal work experiences and observations (covering over 40 years), work is a very close second. The bullying, not surprisingly, is almost entirely psychological. However, it is potentially for more dangerous in that it occasionally leads to workplace killings; all too often involving the innocent. I know of several instances locally where people died. The workplace is incredibly competitive, and I do know of instances where individuals were "ganged up on" by workmates in order to get someone fired. The lust for power is to be found in small groups as well as large nations. And I would be willing to wager that those who indulged in this sort of thing in the workplace also indulged in it at school. But for obvious reasons, they learn to be very discrete. Because physically they are cowards. With physical bullies, at least you know who you are dealing with. But psychological bullies, well, it could be someone who pretends to be your pal. Maybe even associating with you away from the job, but on the job trying to take advantage of you. And like school officials ignoring bullying, workplace management is guilty also of knowing about this and allowing it. Of course now, everyone's experiences are different; maybe you've never had to deal with this sort of thing and maybe you never will. Consider yourself fortunate if you don't encounter it. But it does exist.

I have had that in my work place before. It was the worst. I was a home health aide and i had nothing but selfish nurses and former home health aides tried to pretend to be kind to me and then get me fired just for no reason at all. I've even been bullied in my high school for four years non-stop.