Nadin Khoury was a normal 13-year-old boy until one day he was bullied beyond belief. Seven older students bullied him. He feels he was bullied because he is small and his mother is from Africa.

Read Nadin’s story. Many hold that a bully does not have, or is incapable of having, empathy for fellow human beings. Witnesses to such acts often exhibit lack of empathy and do not get involved.

• Discuss the character issues involved in bullying.
• What can be done to reduce acts of bullying and abuse?
• To what extent does bullying exhibit issues of character?
• To what extent are vices like jealousy, envy, and spite involved in such incidents?
• How can bullying be viewed from a relativism point of view?
• Can bullying be viewed as absolute? Why or why not?

In two paragraphs or more, create your post by answering the questions in a scholarly manner using the textbook and/or outside resources. If using outside sources, it is important that your sources are credible. Acceptable sources come from the following: the library, .org, .mil, .gov, .edu. Wikipedia, or any other “open” sources, are not to be used within collegiate writing. Within your posting, include any in-paragraph citations, and reference the text at the end.

After your initial posting, respond in a scholarly manner to two of your classmates’ posts.

Demonstrate more depth of thought than simply stating “I agree” or “You are wrong.” Your responses to your classmates should be well-thought-out, scholarly, informative, and delivered in a non-threatening matter. Opinions are welcome, but remember to always back up your opinions with scholarly research.

Reply 1: Daniel Earner
A lot of bullying comes from the bullies own self. They usually have some sort of inadequacy and from other troubles they may have in their lives. It is not always because they are mistreated however due to sometimes being sucked into a group mentality. There are many factors that can cause someone to be a bully. To reduce the acts of bullying we would first need to show that even if you have some inadequacies and troubles there are people who can help. We need to teach some compassion and empathy to those who may need to see it first hand. Most of all we need to pay attention to our children and what they are doing and pay attention to them to maybe see if it is something in their home life. Bullying shows flaws in one’s character by revealing a little about themselves. Due to the way some use bullying it may show they are missing things that may make them feel complete. It can show a weakened moral structure that is lacking in certain aspects such as compassion.

A bully could be envious or jealous of another’s position so they go on the attack to try and make themselves feel better about themselves and to make it seem has if they succeeded. When others bully because of a vice most of the time that bully’s judgement and reasoning is clouded due to said vice making them more likely to act impulsively.

• How can bullying be viewed from a relativism point of view?

You have to remember a lot of bullies are actually bullied by someone else. They seem to be acting out and to lash out at someone else is a lot of the time and indicator of a poor home life. They are simply hurting and instead of being empathetic to others suffering they use it like a drug to numb their own pain. Bullying is an absolute. While people are bullied and turned into bullies due to it, it can never end. Bullying begets more bullying and creates more bullies which in turn continues the cycle. All we can do has a society is try and give support to those who are being bullied and try to help those who may be bullies because of other problems. All in all bullying, while unacceptable, is usually a cry for help.

Reply 2: Miriam Dougan

When I watched this story it really touched me because I remembered when it happened. My son used to attend the high school these bullies attended but I moved because I felt like that school was not safe enough for him. I feared for him every time he would step out of the house to catch the bus. That school district used to be one of the best in Pennsylvania but over the years that changed. The mother fled the civil war in Liberia to look for a better life in the US but little did she know that her son would have this horrific encounter. I also fled the Civil war in Sierra Leone so this incident was a wake-up call for me. Bullies should be charged with the crimes they commit and face time in prison as adults. I also think parents need to play a role in their children’s lives like apologize to the victim or parents. Sometimes a bully bullies because they want to have power and control over someone else. Most times the children being bullied are just about doing their normal routine when they get targeted. I don’t think jealousy plays a great role in bullying. My son experienced some form of bullying when he was much younger it was only one person so I told him to fight back because nothing was done when I reported the issue. One day the bully confronted him so he fought back and that was the end of that. I think the boys involved in Nadine’s attack should face years in prison for the crime they committed. I talk to my kids every day after school so I know what is going on with them. All bully cases and bullies should be handled differently based on the crime.

Reference

Thiroux, J.P., & Krasemann, K.W. (2015). Ethics theory and practice, updated eleventh edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc