ODM, DT, lynw1, beajie, bbb, nobrains, etc

[remaha]

I just Pm'ed you all. If you didn't get it can you let me know. I'm never sure whether people get things when I do multiple PMs.

[odm]

hallo remaha..no I did not get mine....

[remaha]

odm said:

hallo remaha..no I did not get mine....

Thought not. I've never trusted the system when you try multiple addressees. Ill post what I said in here. But I fear some people are not around.

[odm]

ok....im all ears.

[remaha]

This is what my PM would have said.

battybetty I and have been discussing one aspect of her story and would appreciate your comments.

Extract from PM from remaha to bb
The main issue is the reason why Jamie bullies thingy (or it could be that thingy bullies Jamie - I can't remember). The thing is that it alost sounds as though thingy (let's assume it is him) deserves it for whining. It might be better to say something different like him not sucking up to Jamie or being quiet, then the bullying definitely looks unwarranted. I know all bullying is unwarranted, but you need to be sympathetic with both your main characters.


Extract from bb's response to remaha
I hear exactly where yo coming from. I'll be totally honest with you here. The story is based loosely around two separate and very real accounts. It may seem contrived but it was a pretty true rendering of the little boys accounts.

The reference to his victim 'whining' all the time, was a direct quote. It's a tricky call remaha because Im not entirely convinced even the experts would think its right to try to gloss over the realities of these situations.

Kids and adults too, do things which wind other people up. They sometime end up bullied because of it. We know its not right and the story addresses the fact. Im not convinced that acknowledging the fact that there was something annoying about the victim takes away any of the message.

BUT!! and this is a very real acceptance of your concern. I think perhaps you should run your thoughts past a few other people. DT, BBB, NoBrains, ODM your wife? Gather a mixture of opinions and then come back and I will 100% go with the general consensus and make that little change if called for.

I'm in no way resisting your suggestion. Since bullying is such an important issue so I don't want to do anything inappropriate any more than yourself.

It's easy enough for me to change a small section of the story at any time. I'll wait to hear back and can tweak whenever. As I said, Im just assuming you're holding back with the website for now??

[odm]

Hi there Remaha..see what you are saying. What we are really talking about here is the 'form' of communication that was used by one boy to another. We surely have to make it CLEAR that whatever the form of communication, bullying is NOT allowable. Its a very great challenge to get aspects of bullying across. I think bullying stories should be more than one anyway as there are different stories to be told. Hotscotch has popped into the Storyboard threads and left an account of her sons there. Please take a look Rem.
People do get bullied for all sorts of reasons..no matter the reasons, or circumstances, we should highlight a FEW and really then look at them all. At the end of the day, these stories have to reflect reality. Someone whining for example should not be repaid with bullying so in my book it is okay to say that as it is what really happened.
Perhaps we should highlight all kinds of reasons, maybe we are going too deep into the storyline i.e., not needing to describe every move, but highlighting the events clearly might make it more impact bound.

For example we need to use our smilies effectively. The message should always be CLEAR from the OUTSET. SAY NO TO BULLIES..OR in Battybettys case a brilliant tale from the Title she gave. Perhaps we could cut and paste these stories a little shorter and to the point.

For example, via smilies showing an incident...and a SAY NO TO BULLIES beside each one?

Again, several stories I feel cover every avenue and perhaps that is what we should work on or we may leave out some details...see hotscotchs post. Perhaps you will come back on this?? We definately need to cover ALL possible aspects of bullying, the reasons, etc, personal experience helps to define this and does not leave anyones 'case' out. if you know what i mean.

xxxx
ODM

[odm]

...sorry, what a ramble....hee hee.

[Admin]

I didnt get the pm, are you putting spaces in between the names?

[battybetty]

I hear where your coming from ODM.

Its difficult to reconcile such serious stories whilst including the lighthearted elements of the smileys. I do think that where children are concerned it's good to have something 'extra' to grab their attention so that they can see the message behind.

I struggled with the use of pictures in part because I wanted to temper the obvious 'dark' content with some more comic references for balance. Do youngsters want to read a story just for it's moral message?? I think probably their inquisitiveness about the imagery and humour is what will get their attention initially.

Once we have their attention it's a different matter. Then it gets deadly serious as far as hitting home the message. ODM's idea is interesting. Including an abridged and more direct postscript to each storyboard is a great idea. We could ensure that any possible lingering confusion could be clarified immediately that way.

[remaha]

ODM, I accept entirely what you and bb have said from an adult's perspective. Do you both think that young children would be able to understand it too? Would their sympathy lie with the bully or the the person that is being bullied when the reason is given?Probably the bully. Maybe that is what makes the story all the more powerful to show that bullying is unacceptable even in the case of v irritating people? Perhaps that element should be highlighted towards the end?

I am beginning to think I'm out of my depth here.