Fair enough, I actually meant some of the bigger kids on here who still see this sort of thing as harmless fun. Once they have children of their own they will understand the feelings this sort of thing can provoke.

Would you say that was the problem? Surely they shouldn't have to kids of their own to understand that elitism and bullying are unacceptable? Isn't it the job of their parents and teachers to teach this to them?

What do you reckon, they picked on the most popular girl in fifth year or the most vulnerable?

What is clear is if it is the latter, it will undoubtedly have long term consequences for the poor girl. This is a small country where degrees of separation are very few. Serious bullying in school doesn't finish when that person leaves education but is very often a cross they bear in some form for the rest of their lives. Mock this "prank" all you want but someday the shoe may be on the other foot if you were to have a child seriously bullied.

Not being overly critical of anyone seeing it as just a prank but definitely don't judge people who get a little touchy over the subject. It is very much an emotional topic, like mental illness or forms of disability. Anteater has every right to take it a bit personally if he feels that way

Apologies Joe. If you are a stereotypical South Dublin rugby wanker then I have indeed insulted you. As I don't know you then I'll leave that label up to you to stick on yourself.

The girl was played a "prank" because she was a supposed "nerd". That's bullying mitty and you're effectively condoning it. Shame on you.

TBF you have some (many) posters in mind so to be clear why don't you name who you were referring to when you said the 'stereotypical South blah blah out en masse'?

You then went on to pretty much damn every private school person before saying 'sure some of my best friends are bl..sorry... private school people'.

You can have your view but don't try to pretend your post wasn't dripping in insults.

"Undoubtably". You know something pretty similar to this happened with a current Irish international just a few years ago in Rock? Driven upto MA for the same. Yea he was a real loser as well for it to be done to him.

Sometimes this is bullying. Sometimes it's a prank done on a mate. Sometimes (as I suspect it could be in this case) it could be just random).

You all jump on the bullying aspect. This girl could be anyone and anything to the perpetrators.

The article is tabloid stuff from the Irish Times. All they are doing is establishing "another fee paying school scandal". There is little detail to it. As ER said, take it with a pinch of salt.

Ffs some lads chanting and playing duck duck goose is deemed worthy of the "paper of record".

I cringed at the story. I have a 14 yr old daughter who is as spoilt as she can be given we are not flush with money - that is to say, not too spoilt but definitely that way inclined. But one of the things we are struggling with now is that she must be responsible for her actions. My standard line is: "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction". I think we are winning the battle but it's tough. She is in a good private school here and they certainly drum the "bullying is unacceptable" rant through their skulls but once out at parties etc you wonder if peer pressure can over-ride that. Fingers crossed, and certainly hope none of my kids are ever involved in something like this.

It was dripping with insults. You're a decent poster and I can't see how it effects you. I name them and I have to engage with them. I don't want to. I left them behind many many years ago when I left school and they're the same idiots they were then, just a different generation.
Apologies if you feel that you are being insulted but like I said I don't know any of you and you all seem to know each other. The subject concerns me because I didn't want my brother to send his daughter to Mt. Anville and this kind of story disappoints me that I may have been right. She's a great kid and watching her turn into a cretin is something I would rather not see.

I agree with your sentiment, I even share your concern right down to having nieces there myself. I just think you're over-generalising. Attacking Mitty and BB's view is fine but stick to that rather than tarring everyone else with the same brush.

I don't know many who've posted on this thread, the ones I do would share your sentiment.

couldn't careless what school or what type of school, that's irrelevant. What is important is whether the girl was sufficiently respected by her peers for this to be seen as a prank by her and everyone else. This is the core of the issue, if she was seen as the loser of her year then this prank was very very cruel and would only reinforce her likely negative self image. It will also likely as a story follow her around for many years to come.

Of course it only gets newspaper column inches because it was a respected fee paying school but this is no reason to deride what may be a very unfortunate situation for that girl

It's Mitty.

Mount Anvil is an awful school, it had been breeding fucked up young women in Dublin for as long as I can remember - horrible institution with a serious bullying problem IN MY OPINION

He didn't die because he got punched, he died because 8 or 9 lads started kicking him in the head once he hit the ground.

Calm yourself because that is not what happened but fucked if I am going to go back down the Murphy route

So you're saying this is normal in your country? Broken Ireland.

Ian Madigan started it

I believe his head hit the ground then he was kicked.....doesn't take away from the cowardice and violence of what happened.

Riiiight....

not cool

Did he really start it!!!

EVENIN HECKALD GET YOUR EVENIN HECKALD

Who is Ian Madigan? the kid who died?

He is the wind beneath my wings

I am guessing Anteater has been tied to a few trees in his time.

Fine. I was over-generalising. Unfortunately if I attack them I have to have some discourse with them. There are a few others who will wade in as well.

As an impartial observer, the OP is abusive bullying.

Any poster condoning it is part of the problem. Immaturity here is not an excuse.

Bert

Only most of them are out to get you Anteater

Fine. I was over-generalising. Unfortunately if I attack them I have to have some discourse with them. There are a few others who will wade in as well.
You can guess again. Never had a problem with bullies in school. I boxed and did judo as well as played rugby. Pretty pointless comment you're making here.

Tell me you are taking the piss

You'd think so wouldn't you?

TBF you have some (many) posters in mind so to be clear why don't you name who you were referring to when you said the 'stereotypical South blah blah out en masse'?

You then went on to pretty much damn every private school person before saying 'sure some of my best friends are bl..sorry... private school people'.

You can have your view but don't try to pretend your post wasn't dripping in insults.[/quote]
It was dripping with insults. You're a decent poster and I can't see how it effects you. I name them and I have to engage with them. I don't want to. I left them behind many many years ago when I left school and they're the same idiots they were then, just a different generation.
Apologies if you feel that you are being insulted but like I said I don't know any of you and you all seem to know each other. The subject concerns me because I didn't want my brother to send his daughter to Mt. Anville and this kind of story disappoints me that I may have been right. She's a great kid and watching her turn into a cretin is something I would rather not see.[/quote]

I agree with your sentiment, I even share your concern right down to having nieces there myself. I just think you're over-generalising. Attacking Mitty and BB's view is fine but stick to that rather than tarring everyone else with the same brush.

I don't know many who've posted on this thread, the ones I do would share your sentiment.[/quote]
Fine. I was over-generalising. Unfortunately if I attack them I have to have some discourse with them. There are a few others who will wade in as well.
You can guess again. Never had a problem with bullies in school. I boxed and did judo as well as played rugby. Pretty pointless comment you're making here.[/quote]

Tell me you are taking the piss[/quote]
I'm taking the piss

Phewwww

In my whinge earlier on I was going to call it Annabel's Syndrome or something, but I thought it'd be a bit distasteful. But you've said it so I'll back you up. Since then they like to stick the boot in to the spoilt rich kids over any perceived misdemeanour and blow the whole thing out of proportion.


Stats, I think that the story in the OP is definitely too much. But there's a certain glee in the papers when they hear of anything that fulfils their criteria for running another story about rich kids running riot.

I shouldn't
but

I atteneded my sons graduation/prizegiving last night, and luckily himself and his peers didn't indulge in anything that either made the papers or the parents.
Outside of the obvious connotations of bullying (and esp. picking on the girl from a year younger smacks of that), the schools in question will be seething that the 'events' went off campus and attracted the press's attention. Expect some people to be repeating the leaving in the Institute next year.

Let's go through the article.




Okay. So I don't know who/what the relationship between them was beyond a year in the difference.




What more are the Irish Times hoping for? These are 6th years. Banned from graduation is the only punishment really possible at this stage. They were in their last couple of days of school.




From this we all deduced that she was a "nerd". Why did the IT feel it was necessary to include this? Would it have been okay if she wasn't well regarded? What does regarded even mean; good academically? Pleasant? Good at sports or drama? A combination of that?

This is Mount Anville. They are 95% "nerds".

So her mates were horrified and the girl cried. Natural reaction for any girl. We still don't know shit about this and their relationship, the IT decided to throw a few idle lines in there. Still nobody knows the score. I don't know the full facts and I'm not deducing anything from this article.

Saint and others with a "please think of the children line". The IT generally couldn't give a fuck. You want to know their agenda here?



Ireland's Paper of Record ladies and gentlemen.

Both stories serve their agenda.

Other papers salivate in this kind of stuff. For lower brow stuff like the Independent and tabloids obviously this is standard fare. "Rich kids gone bad".

The IT are more sinister. They have an anti fee paying schools agenda. They routinely spin stories on fee paying school finances to suit Seán Flynn's views.

They have a "liberal" agenda and are stocked with journalists like Thornley who give out yards about fee paying schools. The problem is that a good percentage of their readers are alumni of such schools. So that's why we see these stupid League Tables which are poorly analysed and designed to blow steam up the arse of dickhead mums at their coffee mornings who think 90% going to third level as opposed to 88% means the first school is sooo much better. They cover schools rugby and other "elite" pursuits.

They are dickheads, in summation.

I just find it surprising that some of the Irish here seem to think that incidents like this are normal. too much craic perhaps?

Pranks? Yes they are normal all over the world, in private schools, State ones universities....

Frat initiations...

I don't know enough about this incident to properly comment.

Slippery slope here lads. If you're okay with this OTT "japery", then you are at some level okay with a guy getting his head kicked in outside a nightclub and nobody being accountable for it.