EW short article on bullying storyline

http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/11/10/glee-kurt-bully/

Glee: You Suck, McKinley High Students

by Mandi Bierly

I know high school is cruel and no one wants to do anything to make themselves a target, but how could no one walking the McKinley High halls who saw bully Karofsky shove Kurt against the lockers hard enough to make him fall to the ground NOT stop and at least ask Kurt if he’s okay? Isn’t that a human reflex when you see someone fall? It wasn’t like Karofsky was standing over Kurt, so people had to worry about him pounding on them. McKinley High clearly runs on fear — Puck intimidated classmates out of $300, really? — but watching this was soul-crushing. I get that that’s the point: We need to feel Kurt’s isolation. But I don’t want to hate everyone at McKinley High.

This goes back to the discussion we were having yesterday, after Madonna suggested on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that to stop bullying, people should walk away from someone when they’re spreading gossip. If you stand idly by and listen (or watch) in silence as someone tears another person down, you’re condoning it. There should be people other than Kurt and his new friend Blaine (swoon) telling Karofsky it’s not okay. The strongest people in high school are the ones who walk down those halls knowing they’re going to be teased. The second strongest are those who try to stop that from happening.

End of article

Exactly what I was thinking, although in my analysis I lashed out at Will and not the students. But she's right, the point of the episode was to make the viewers FEEL Kurt's pain and isolation, and to hopefully be angry at the students and especially the faculty for looking the other way. I do understand that both groups are in a predicament to a certain extent. Teachers are often too busy and overworked to get involved, and sometimes they're as afraid of retribution as the students. Bullying can also be very hard to prove. And if you think that just because Karofsky walked away, that would mean the girl in the hall should feel comfortable to at least speak to Kurt - unfortunately that is too rosy of a view of the high school food chain. Bullies often have eyes in the back of their heads...or the eyes of spies to help them do their dirty work.

gleekette