What have you bought recently?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Tennis ball tits

[Pepe]

Just a couple of the tamer things from my school. There was a girl who got off with a lad and supposedly when he felt her top half a cut up tennis ball fell out. She was then called ‘tennis ball tits’ for the last three years or school. Even to this day if I go to my mates about her first thing that gets bought up is that.

Second a couple of twins who had coats which had 4 stripes on them rather than being Adidas. Again they got absolutely buried as the ‘four stripe twins’ for the rest of school.

Does that count as bullying?

[Lewis]

I'm not saying nobody ever got stick for things, but bullying, as in targeted and sustained abuse, wasn't that common. Somebody would notice your crap PE kit and lol about it at the time, but everything and anything wasn't long-term bullying material.

[Pepe]

Yeah, I also can't think of anyone who has legit bullied in the multiple schools I attended. Everyone was laughed at at some point for the most stupid of shit, but unless you were a melt, you just got on with your life.

[Mike]

Does that count as bullying?

It didn't used to and rightfully so but very much would now.

[Luke Emia]

I mean I think being shouted at and called tennis ball tits every day for 3 years must come pretty close.

Especially considering I’m 99.99% sure she never had tennis balls in her bra.

[igor_balis]

I don't recall people getting 'bullied' for trivial things at my school. People got bullied for smelling like shit or coming out as gay, but having your brother's old trainers wasn't going to get you any sustained grief.

Nah you're right. Well, you WOULD get bullied for the tamest random bollocks, but it would more be that someone would get targeted for being a general loser and then would have random reasons applied afterwards. You're not gonna get bullied FOR not having an iPad or whatever, but if you got teased once for it and you gave em a reaction, you'll be billy no iPad for the rest of eternity.

[igor_balis]

Igor not thinking kids would get bullied for something trivial is lol.

Mate, when we were kids you'd get bullied if you didn't have Pokemon cards/football stickers/the latest shoes etc etc. Kids are brutal to other kids.

As I said to Lewis, I think you would get teased once for that kind of thing and if you were a fanny about it then they'd keep doing it.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Fair enough, bullying was too strong.

[Shindig]

I was always behind the curve as a kid and now I wish I kept hold of the Amiga, the Amstrad (and the hundreds of tapes) and that bootleg handheld that played Atari 2600 games.

[igor_balis]

Fair enough, bullying was too strong.

Yeah I guess it's sorta bullying-adjacent. I was particularly thin skinned until I was about 14, especially at junior school, so would often get teased for a lot of stuff, then I just sorta grew a backbone and the first time you go lol fuck off you fat twat to the lad who tried to call your shoes gay they tend to stop pretty quickly, especially if their mates are laughing at them. I do have the privilege of having gone to one of the wussiest grammar schools ever with a particularly lame year group, so getting a kicking was never a risk so you were more empowered to stand up for yourself.

[igor_balis]

But what I'm getting at is it's fairly futile to just give your kids STUFF to protect from bullying, cus short of really mad shit like not letting your kids watch the Simpsons, even when they're 16 (true story with a couple of the weird Christian kids) or them turning up to school in literally tatty clothing/unshowered, duquan style, kids are largely gonna get bullied or not bullied based on how confident they are, and general social skills n shit I THINK, the other stuff is just incidental ammunition I think. At least in terms of it being sustained.