Could be, either way I don't think the downrepping was appropriate.

When you get bullied at home as well as school, it is difficult to speak up when you cannot see a friendly face anywhere. You feel trapped, unable to tell anyone because you feel so alone, which in turn leads to suicide as the only way out of the situation.

Ouch. It seems that I have to brush up my knowledge of stoicism!


Yes, misanthropic was what I meant. Gah, I even looked the word up in an online dictionary, because something kept telling me that I wasn't using the one I meant. But apparently the dictionary has some questionable translations.

I didn't realize that you used translation dictionaries. For somebody whose English is as good as yours is generally, I'd strongly recommend looking up words in a proper English English Dictionary. I doubt it will take you much time seeing as you're quite good with English, but it'll help eliminate these sorts of oversights.

Every complex animal engages in systematic bullying over resources and reproductive rights. It's a big part how the natural world evolves and a major mechanic in natural selection. HOWEVER, there are 7 billion humans and we have long since realised that altruism and morality is the only way we are going to survive and not destroy each other. A bully is only trying to fulfil his/her base desires of amassing wealth or power, in many cases due to a lacking in another aspects of their life or simply from an attraction to masochistic tendencies.

Regardless, a person who systematically engages in behaviour that threatens, intimidates, or in anyway unjustly restricts others is a threat to social cohesion and deserves to be ostracised and disciplined until they can function in a manner that contributes to, or at the very least doesn't detract from, the communal well-being.

As for the juvenile interpretations of suicide by the OP, for gods' sake read a psychology textbook.
Remember the days when we had to get out the old Webster's from the high bookshelf if we wanted to know what a word meant? (not to mention the 20 volumes of Encyclopaedia Britannica if we actually wanted to understand the definition) Thanks gods for dictionary.reference.com!

Were there any legal ramifications for what you did (personally i'm a big beliver in ... "talk softly, but carry a big stick")...?

This.

Ahh, I get where you're coming from. And you're right in many respects. However, I don't think the solution is to throw up our hands and say "well, nothing to be done." (not that you're saying that). There's no easy way to "cure" the problem by force, but that doesn't mean that intervening in certain cases isn't going to do good.

And it's great that you're the sort of person who can deviate from the norm and feel good about it. However, not everyone is like that. For instance, I'm even more sensitive to nonacceptance than normal people (which is perhaps a bad thing considering how abnormal I am in certain ways). And it's something that is extremely difficult to deal with, even as an adult.

I don't see a single problem with downrepping someone who applauds the idea that suicide is the murder of a worthless person.

He may have just missed that part. Several people (including myself) missed it until Psyringe pointed it out.

I think the downrepping may have gone a bit far (one of the posts that was downrepped was one that I read as being a sarcastic criticism of the OP), and I haven't downrepped any posts in this thread myself, but I can understand it.

The OP tapped into two matters which, for many people, caused scars they are still living with. And he did it in a way - deliberately or carelessly - that was destined to scratch those scars open, "turn a knife around" in them (as one of the replies stated), and then leave those people with a simplistic "solution" that left them feeling ridiculed, or at least completely misunderstood, and patronized.

I can understand that, under these conditions, the emotions carry over to the two people who seemed to agree with the OP. Though personally I think that they probably didn't read the post thoroughly (in one case) or made a sarcastic criticism (in the other case). In any case, it's spoiled milk now.

Certainly ! But the wording you've used underlines the issue - "in certain cases". This is not a matter that can be tackled through a (school-wide, state-wide, country-wide) policy - every incident needs to be handled separately and with care. What it boils down to is helping kids get along, mediating between them... I don't know - trying to teach them mutual respect based on inherent dignity of a person ?
That's kinda like marriage counseling or something - it's intimate, highly individual and with limited chance of success.
What I do not want are the ACTAs of bullying - initiatives that could fundamentally harm innocent people and stifle normal human interactions in the name of universal niceness. Stuff like throwing girls out of school because the contents of their private conversations were found mean has me worried.

A sensitive and complex issue.

Some individuals might cope by successfully standing up to the bully, growing thicker skin and so on. I believe that a strong and healthy self-image is generally important, but I don't think it's fair or realistic to expect everyone to handle it this way. Different circumstances, different people and so on.

Yup. I agree. It's a problem that requires a scalpel and it cannot be solved with a machete (perhaps not the best analogy, but you understand what I mean). And isn't that the case with so many of these social issues?

Couldn't down-repping be considered a form of bullying? What is it, really, other than another form of saying "Boo, hiss, we don't like what you're saying, shut up, make this thread go away"? Just wondering.