Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for September 18, 2013

“Been There, Done That”or“Some Kids Never Change (Or Even Graduate)”

It’s so “ironic” that kids who go out of their way to stand out as “different”, “individual” and “unique” would put down anyone who wasn’t… “like them”…

Those who did copy their style would also get heckled for doing so. These type of bulliers would do so no matter what you did. You’re also going to run into these type of people in almost any place you work in the future.

You have to develop a strategy as early as possible in order to rescue your pride and sanity. 1) Build up your pride in yourself as early in the game as possible. 2) Preoccupy yourself with whatever is important to you and learn not to depend on the opinion of others for your self- satisfaction. 3) Surround yourself with friends or fellow students/ workers when your self- esteem seems weak and vulnerable. 4) Learn 3-4 solid affirmations that bolster your mind/ego and say them everytime you feel your spirits flagging.

My grandson ( 11) has had this problem since grade 1, believe it or not, and school counsellors just think this problem will go away on its own. Sadly, be doesn’t include me as his close friend.

“Subdivision Jeans… ""Be cool, or be cast out… wear Subdivision, and you’ll make the grade, every time, as long as it’s in season""… ""And now with brand new locations In the high school halls In the shopping malls, In the basement bars In the backs of cars""…

“Clique Cosmetics” … “Be the best you can be.. Become a Clique Chick”… " – and by…Andy Visual Wear… “Be unique… be you… be Andy Visual”….

That was actually pretty funny

It’s easy to spot the nonconformists because they all dress alike.

Or it could be Annie’s cousin… all it takes is “Daddy Warbucks” to introduce them all to “Benjamin, Ulysses, Andrew and Alex”, and “everything will be fine”…..

So… who’s thinking that Bern will survive her internship? I think it’s going to be a tough road for her. But better she find out now, having not invested a bunch of time and money into getting training and certified for it, etc. etc.

BTW, when yesterday’s kid appeared (i.e. the boy with the locker problem), who else besides me was thinking, “Dirk’s younger brother” (sans glasses and toque)? ;-PPP

So, Miss Halper has some experience with the Bullies of Hall C, ehh? Well, she can help her little freshman alter ego have a better time in high school than she has had….

If they really believed themselves above other, they wouldn’t feel the need to put others down.(That’s why I NEVER put others down.)

I once told a former teacher how much I enjoyed school after the thugs dropped out. He maintained we had too high a drop-out rate. I wondered why anyone thought others should have to endure h+ll for low-lifes. Give the thugs a way back in later and encourage them to get out of the way until they’re ready to be real students.

Take a Real GOOD Look, Red, If YOU don’t Change THAT Hairdo and DITCH those “Horn Rims” then YOU’LL be sitting behind THAT desk in about 15 years…..,

Great artwork today. This kid is an individual that doesn’t look like everyone else.

The boy yesterday was the new Gunther. The girl today is the new Bern. Will the new Luann show up tomorrow?

I always worried that my son would have problems with bullies. He’s, well, he’s a weird kid. they never, ever gave him any trouble. I talked to school counselors about it. They said it’s because he is neither intimidated nor condescending towards them. He only sees people instead of monsters or victims, so they behave like people.

Welcome to FARK

Anyone else see another arc about bullying in the offing?

As a victim of bullying in my school days, it was the jocks, cheerleaders and the popular kids who picked on others. Goth kids, hipsters, etc. would have been on the bottom of the feeding chain just as the geeky kids. In a way, I feel this is stereotyping people who choose to be different, coloring one’s hair black, etc. as the bad guy.

I find myself really liking Bernice for the first time, based on the first panel. She is not only remembering her own bad experiences with bullying, but she is empathizing with the experiences of the student she is counseling. (And a lot of counselors end up hearing about bullying; sadly, there seems to be little that schools can do about it even now.) It’s hard for me to equate today’s Bern with the sarcastic person who keeps criticizing Luann, but I guess it’s possible for someone to have emphathy for one person’s problems while ignoring the fact that another person’s constant ‘falling in love’ might have something to do with a belief that one is not worth much by oneself.

We may think we are above others, we may feel the need to put ourselves above others but ultimately God or the natural laws of the universe are above all of us.

That only works in theory

This is fun seeing school through Bernice’s eyes.

Does this strip remind anyone else of the ol’ Lucy advice strips? All she needs is a 5¢ sign.

haha, the patient looks drawn in kind of a different art style!

I’m in my ’60’s and still remember the bullies from my grade school and high school days. Some of those kids went to their (well-deserved, no doubt) rewards already, but I recall them from time to time.

Today’s kids have to deal with nonstop bullying on social media. Kids are usually so eager to be accepted during high school days that the overwhelming bombardment by faceless digital bullies is really causing many to turn to suicide to escape what seems to be inescapable. Wish I could think of a solution, but I can’t. Social media is everywhere – except in my house!

Bullies are horrible mean and vicious and completely necessary.kids need them so that they learn how to cope with adversity.

“They believe them selves superior is why.”IMHO, they feel insecure and try to shore themselves up by belittling others and fitting in with their “friends.”.

Last year Rosa & friends handled the sole bully, Les, by teaming up. Gunther stood up for her initially, then Ox looked threatening.*This year I hope Team Evans explores how a group of bullies, or better yet— a bullying culture— can be changed. The important thing is to remember that for bullies, bullying is FUN. They won’t change until there are sufficient negative consequences.*How will Team Evans handle this? Does Delta have any ideas- racism and sexism, in my opinion, are mostly forms of bullying.

““nerdface”? The bullies these days can’t compare with the ones from Bernice’s youth.”Bernice is still a youth, from my perspective. I’m fortunate that I didn’t grow up during these times. “Brain” and “egghead” was about all they could manage in the 40’s and 50’s.

IamJayBluE: I remember a brand of jeans in the early ’60s that went out of business despite its popularity. They had a star on the back pocket as a logo. Kids wearing them were constantly arrested in Dallas for “desecrating the flag”. This was rapidly escalated to planting a pill bottle of pot in their car and giving them a 1,000 year sentence (record 2,000) for trafficking. Not all bullies were at school.

Thinking about it now, I believe there might have been a couple attempts at bullying me when I was in jr. high, but the creeps and gossips tended to leave me the heck alone because I simply didn’t respond to them. Except for naked contempt. Worked for me.

And many of those ones in companies and public service who bully are also trying to overcome their insecurities at times, and perhaps in line with the song “Eminence Front” by the Who, they hide their insecurities in accumulating more wealth than others, abuse of things (like drugs or alcohol or sadly, more people in and out of their homes), or another kind of abuse, which is abusing their “public service privileges”…

You have to wonder how many times those bullies have repeated their senior year.

Usually the age difference between seniors and freshman is 3 years, however, since the size difference between girls 14 and 17 is usually not that much, I am going to guess that 4 years may be too low a number.^^When Luann was 13 in the early strips, it was said several times that Pitts was a jr/sr HS… in other words, the frosh kids are actually 12 year old 7th Graders, this is why Luann and Brad could be going to the same school when Lou was 13 and Brad 17

I sense some sort of “Revenge of the Nerds” vibe here.

“The Doctor Is……In”. (Peanuts). Berneice as counselor is a good arc…Worth coming back to from time to time.