The Results of ijime

Some people are single due to physical ill health or mental health issues such as depression. Some are extreme introverts who have difficulty with social situations. Others have been traumatized by experiencing abuse during childhood or adolescence, or by observing such abuse, which creates fearfulness about having a relationship. Also rejection by peers and bullying in school can cause a person to expect rejection by others. I actually prefer the term harassment rather than bullying, since some are proud to be bullies, whereas few people want to brag about how often or how effectively they harass people.

I also think that our society has changed in ways that decrease the opportunities for meaningful social interaction and the sense of belonging to a community. It used to be much more common for people to live in small towns, where most of the businesses were owned by families or individuals. When you went into such a place, you met the same owners and employees every time. The pace of such transactions was slower, and allowed for conversation.

Now we buy most things in huge corporate stores where there are few people to help you, and you stand in line to be helped, and everything is rushed. You seldom see a familiar face, and if you do, the employees are not allowed to stop and talk to you for very long. Also in our large towns and cities it is unlikely that you have the same friends and neighbors as the people you meet, so there is less in common, less to talk about.

Similarly, small towns had smaller government offices, smaller post offices, smaller schools, smaller libraries, restaurants, and every one of these places provided opportunities to meet and socialize with people. The slower pace of life meant that no one was offended by someone taking time to talk to a customer for a while. Now everyone is in a hurry, and people resent anything that takes a few moments of their time.

Finally, I also think that one of the sickest and most alienating institutions of modern life are the huge schools, where kids are hustled from room to room every hour, and every class has a different set of faces. The students often remain strangers to each other, and there is a new teacher in every class. The teachers don’t get to know the kids as well, and there is much unsupervised interactions in the hallways, restrooms, and locker rooms, and recess areas where kids can be attacked either physically or emotionally. It is well known that this is where school shooters are spawned. These experiences also create children who are so alienated from society that they lose the ability to bond. Many no longer have or expect empathy from anyone.

Amin Parker パーカー•アミン