The Buckets by Greg Cravens for November 23, 2012

And you need to give the BEST Christmas gifts so that no one judges you. A book of Buckets cartoons. It’s ‘Black Friday’ here in the states, when all the stores suddenly start operating outside of the red ink in their ledgers and start making a profit. But here you are on the computer, at home in total comfort. Smart. Buy everyone a Buckets book. Done. Boom. Thank you and have a stress-free Christmas.

PRICELESS!

xxx

I was picked on in Grade 7 and 8 by a group of kids. They continued in Grade 9. (BTW in Ontario, most schools are “Primary” JK-8 and “Secondary” 9-13).I was somewhat protected, in grade 7/8 as I lived in a group home, and staff would pick us up most nights. Not so in Grade 9, and a ‘new kid’ joined the group of bullies. It was middle of September, when things came to a head. He didn’t like that I told him to go f*** himself in gymclass before the teacher came in.So after school, he attacked me. He ripped my shirt, but I broke his nose, and blackened both eyes. After that, no one bullied me. I don’t know why. ;)

I see.

There were girl bullies in like 5th and 6th grade. After getting a few punches (very few in most cases) in most of them gave up, because they were bleeding on thier blouses and other parts. I had big brothers and lots of cousins, and because I was the youngest, I had lots of experience…

Bullying is no longer as it was when we were kids. It used to be a bully would come up and if you could hit them a few times they would give up and move on to easier prey. Now, bullies travel in packs and as Night Gaunt 49 says they no longer use physical violence to intimidate. They use rumor and inuendo and belittle the bullied in front of their “friends” in an attempt to ostrasize the individual. Once excluded from the group it becomes like a piranha feeding frenzy. And if the bullied fights back they are usually the ones that the authorities end up punishing because the bully appears innocent (no violence). My daughter’s school was so bad that we pulled her. And the school won’t even acknowledge that there is a problem. The principal of the high school went so far as to post on his blog how "proud he was that (school system name withheld) does not have a bullying problem. As long as the authorities will not see the problem, the only sollution is to remove the children from the environment for their own protection.

Isn’t Toby’s age supposed to be 15? Maybe someone more knowledgeable than me can shed a light here. Does Toby’s age fluctuate like in some other strips, or is he a year behind in school? Or perhaps this strip is set one of those odd areas where middle school goes through 9th grade instead of 8th? Or am I just wrong about his age?

I know it’s just a strip, but I am curious.

Just reread the first comment- could be in the same school system as the Doctor was… :D

The bullying that I dealt with was almost never physical, but very strongly verbal. It is nothing new for kids to taunt others with cruel nicknames and lies/rumors. And it is nothing new for the bullies to run in “packs” either.