Quick! Bully him, he's smart!

[Dectomax]

So my dear escapists...

Here I was, casually surfing the web when a thought struck my mind. I can't remember what it was, but it pulled up the memory of school ( one I dislike ). A lot of you may have experience this too, where the other children will pick on the "smart" kids, for...well? Being smart. I got it most in science, because Physics came to me much faster than any others in my group. This got me thinking, why do they pick on the "smart" kids? Just because we understand what we were being taught and picked it up is grounds to bully us? Maybe it was them thinking we were weird or just different. I'm not sure.

What do you think escapists?

* I am by no means calling myself smart ( Before you think I'm arrogant ), hell Science was one of the only subjects I was good at...

EDIT: This is from a UK based school - I understand some of the response are aimed towards the US schools, so to add further discussion, how do US schools differ from UK based schools in terms of bullying and behaviour towards other students?

 

[OutcastBOS]

I think it's because the people who bully the smart kids think that the smart kids are trying to make them feel dumb, or that they feel that the stereotypical Urkel-style nerd won't be able to defend themselves that well.

 

[Zantos]

Because kids will bully other kids for absolutely any reason they can find. Because they're malicious bastards.

 

[RaNDM G]

In my experience, it's the smart kids who pick on the idiots in the class. Not because they are stupid, but because they act like idiots.

I would know. I'm an idiot.

 

[Ghonesis]

Well, possibly because smart kids have an advantage over the others in conversation etc. and bullies have an advantage in strength.
Also, the smart ones usually are easy targets, and bullies are wimps.
And they may possibly bully them to make their homework, misusing their cleverness.

Does being (sort of) clever and having been bullied make me speak out of experience?

I would know. I'm an idiot.

In my opinion, people that know they're stupid aren't that stupid at all, really...

 

[Soviet Steve]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/2709-Magneto-Was-Right

Moviebob addressed this in a more entertaining and nerdy fashion than I would.

In my experience the hostility is generated by perceived threat from the display of a rare ability. By reacting with hostility and ridicule a group of poor learners can avoid the issue that they have faults.

 

[Dectomax]

Well, possibly because smart kids have an advantage over the others in conversation etc. and bullies have an advantage in strength.
Also, the smart ones usually are easy targets, and bullies are wimps.
And they may possibly bully them to make their homework, misusing their cleverness.

Does being (sort of) clever and having been bullied make me speak out of experience?

This is true, I went through it too. Though I believe I had it easy. Name calling and being pushed about wasn't exactly traumatising. Though it irritates me to see kids doing this out of spite.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Quite simply, children are monsters.

Most children have a deeply competitive instinct, and the battle for alpha dog starts at a very early age.

"Smart" kids have already tipped their hands, so other kids have to beat them down so they have a chance at becoming alpha.

If "Strong" kids didn't attack "Smart" kids, then we'd have the same situation reversed, where the "Smart" would be laughing cruelly at the "Strong".

 

[BoredDragon]

My experience was a little different. I was really good at math so all the "popular" kids would keep to their own groups until there was group work to be down upon which we were suddenly friends.

 

[Dectomax]

My experience was a little different. I was really good at math so all the "popular" kids would keep to their own groups until there was group work to be down upon which we were suddenly friends.

It's funny how that works, eh?

 

[Ben Jackson]

I know exactly how you feel.
I'm the type of kid who is average at almost everything, really good at two things (ICT,Enterprise) and really bad at two things (PE,Technology).
Some kids pick on me because I'm good at school and I always want to learn. Teachers like me, so kids don't. Those kids are usually the gobby ones who are just like "F this, F that, I ain't learning shit!" type people, which really bugs me.
So yeah, I guess people can be dicks 'cos they're either jealous...or they're just dicks

 

[SckizoBoy]

You know, I must be in a very small minority on the Escapist because my time at high school wasn't uniformly bad. I was instantly identified as the year's smart kid (especially when I just went into year 7 (11-12yo's for those outside the UK)), because I attended maths lessons with the sixth-formers.

Thing is, I didn't get any flak for it, instead, I became everyone's go to guy for maths and physics, which was kinda cool (and rather embarrassingly for some of my maths classmates, they occasionally asked for help too), though it left little time for me to do my own work. When I got to sixth form, it became clear that the 'clever crowd' had all the positions of power, which was quite a departure from the norm (as far as I'm aware). Only the Captain of Football wasn't a scholar (*derp*) out of the fifteen or so 'official' student officer positions.

 

[Richardplex]

The universe's way of balancing IRL. The intelligent were OP, so God Nerfed us.

 

[Dectomax]

The universe's way of balancing IRL. The intelligent were OP, so God Nerfed us.

That made me laugh. :')

 

[Slick Samurai]

In my experience the kids who call themselves "smart" are the ones I don't mind seeing bullied. They always seem to be an arrogant bunch, while the more instinctive "idiot" kids take them down a notch.

It's how the system works, if no one made you feel like utter shit then you would walk around full of hot air until you made a poor decision that affects everyone.

Morale of the day: just the right amount of bullying from peers is good for everyone.

 

[RaNDM G]

I would know. I'm an idiot.

In my opinion, people that know they're stupid aren't that stupid at all, really...

That was part of the joke, actually.

 

[Verlander]

It's not to do with smart. Kids pick on kids who are socially awkward or who distance themselves from the pack. You can't honestly claim that those who are especially slow aren't picked on?

I'd also like to point out that particularly on the internet, those who are self professedly "smart" do a whole load of bullying themselves.

 

[Samurai Silhouette]

Dickheads hang around with dickheads based on shallow and/or superficial reasons, intelligent or moral kids know well enough not to hang around with them. Some dickheads seek easy targets to pick on to entertain their selves and their dickhead friends. You're different in the sense that you're not part of their circle, and your circle of friends are incapable of defending against a dickhead onslaught.