B E B E R E

This is actually sillier than banning dodgeball.

Note to education professionals: get a clue. I remember a similar initiative in my junior high school back in the day. We all went to some sort of assembly, then were forced to make these cards that said "IALAC." This stood for "I am loveable and capable (of being loved)." Each time someone hurt our feelings, we had to tear a piece of the card off. This exercise was to last a week. I think that my card lasted the afternoon. What did I get out of this? What did anyone get out of this? My experiences in school were somewhat similar to what the genetic experiments in George Turner's frightening (surprisingly not) classic story went through, I'm sure. The "IALAC" initiative did not change dynamics at all. What eventually got people off my back was resolve on my part, plus back up in the form of physical retaliation.

Kids are not going to stop picking on different kids just because of some feel good initiative put together by a bunch of Education PhDs and Sociologists. Schools brutal, kids are brutal. Since this all largely reflects the outside world, perhaps people need to look more into preparing kids for the (harsh and not so harsh) realities of the world that they'll eventually be let loose into. I'm not saying that everyone needs to settle everything with their fists. I'm just mentioning that that's about the only way that certain parts of the population will be made to understand that they're being 'hurtful.'