SPECIAL EPISODE- Standing Up to the Epidemic of Bullying

Welcome Chop nation to another new week, which you all know what that means. Another new exciting episode. I missed you guys. I know it's only been a week but I'm excited to dive right into it introduce our new guest speaker and to provide relevant information so you all know what that means. Let's chop it up Welcome to your top rated global podcast that is your one stop shop for everything entrepreneurship, self development, and smart investment decisions. This podcast is hosted by owner Dr. And creator Dustin Steffey were blessed to have accolades that include a 2022 nomination by the People's Podcast Awards. In the category of business money donated to two amazing causes cystic fibrosis and the Boys and Girls Club. Lastly, global recognition of gaining top 50 podcast in four countries. Without further ado, let's chop it up a chop nation welcome to a special episode of chopping wood fire. I am joined with my friend and host of Sargassum and orgasms. Will Wilson Well, how are you?

I'm good, my friend. Thank you for having me. How are you doing?

I'm doing all right. The topic that we're going to discuss however, is is it's pretty robust. And it hits home nationally. So I know you and I have talked about and we're kind of ready to dive in. But I'm, you know, I'm excited to do a collaboration with you as always.

So uh, my buddy, you know, I'm always here to support you no matter what. So thank you for having me.

And thanks for coming on. I know that you and I do a lot of collabs. So this, this will be fun.

It will be it will be I just wanted to say this. I also want to say that I'm sorry that your counterpart is not here. I know the there's been days going on. It's just everybody who's out there listening. We all know that JT was a part of this. And just, he couldn't be here. So I just want to give a shout out to him, as well. So thank you to both of you. Yeah,

thank you. And yes, shout out to Jaden he is doing while coaching for CSU and living his dream out so good on him.

Yeah, they still suck. So

I'll leave that for you and Jaden to fight it out.

One hour, okay.

So with that being said, our special episode today is going to address in my opinion, it's an epidemic and it's on the rise. It's something that is close to me because I have a child will has a child and there are many of you that listen that have children. And that's the effects of bullying in school and other issues that are related with the public school system right now. So I think we should just dive in first, before we dive in, I'm going to read out some statistics so people can stay on it while we're talking about this. So statistically, right now, according to ed.gov 53 point 9 million students are enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade right now of which 9% of that number is in a public school or in a private school setting. So the rest the other 91% are in public schools. So when we're going through the stats, keep that in your mind. 90% of kids that are enrolled in grades fourth through eighth grade have been harassed and or bullied. 28% of students that are enrolled in grades six through 12 have experienced bullying. And then 20% of students enrolled grades nine through 12 have experienced bullying. But the stats get deeper 160,000 Kids daily, refuse to go to school because of the effects of bullying. And they're not getting the proper education that they need. 70% of students witness bullying and recognize the effects, but don't do anything about it. They allow it to continue each month. Yeah, yeah, I agree. And then on top of that, each month, 282,000 kids are assaulted daily within a school. And that number is growing monthly, monthly dude. And then 75% of all of the stats that we just released out to you guys relate to and lead up to school shootings, deaths, and other things that we've experienced that are on the rise since post pandemic. What are your thoughts to that? Well, just listening to those dots.

It's, it's a lot to digest. Because you almost want to think like, well, who's responsible for others. At first, you want to blame the kids. But then again, you can't fully blame the children because it starts with the parents, we all know that some things are conditioned, some things are taught, like you see something, and then you emulate it. And so it's another thing like bullying can be taught. Because if it comes from children who are in homes where there is any type of abuse was mental or physical or emotional, where there may be DNA carries, then as triggers, so if a kid is being bullied at home, that he's gonna take his anger and aggression at someone at school that is, you know, less than him or her, whichever doesn't have to be just one gender. So those stats, they are staggering. They are staggering, really, it's almost like gasping for air, like you can't believe it. And you it's almost like one of these organizations for what is the PTA or mothers or fathers or whatever the fuck they are, I don't know. I can only say from my experience, I experienced bullying. Because when I was in high school, everyone to get personal, I went to a predominantly white school, never forget. And it wasn't hurtful to me because I came from a black school. So I do hire survive with stupidity. Because at once as for your UC, saying the N word, like it's everyday being in and hearing in a different way, you almost want to fight. And that's why kind of on the person I am because I can fight with words, because I'm gonna use my fist because there's no need to. So it's hard, you can't tell kids to stand up for themselves. And they do. And then we see what happens, they end up taking their father's garden or their mother's garden and killing that person, and then they destroy their life for the rest of their life. So those numbers are just overwhelmingly sad, just really sad.

And let's rewind for a sec, because I did want to make mention of something. So before we dive any deeper, I want everyone to know that we'll and I are doing our part with our influence right now. And what we have as an audience and as creative influencers, to put awareness behind the bullying, the sexual harassment, the things that are going on in school that people know are going on, but they're not voicing their concern, and so friendly, today starts the fight for the future of making our education system great again, and I know it sounds cliche, but we haven't done a good job on our parts of using our voice to bring to the table what we know we can to provide that better education. Let's be realistic for a second here. Well, you and I, like if we were in school right now, and both you and I were being bullied, are you more likely to want to go to school and learn or less likely,

more, I'm less likely because if I'm in a time in space where like, I don't feel comfortable, like I can't even go to school because someone's messing with me every day. They're coming up to me, they're knocking, my books are pushing me, they're making me feel belittled by you know, embarrassing me in front of the other people. I don't want to go to school, then I want to like be homeschooled or I want to take cyber classes. I'd never knew that was a thing until I was in high school. So it's like, kids go through a lot of things. And even when there is a cry for help, we don't listen to parents just they don't listen, it goes almost like they don't care until it's really too late.

And that's the thing right now. So another statistic because I'm full of them tonight. 30% in the last three years of students enrolled in school, have gone to online school, due in large part to how bad the education system has gotten, and how the accountability is not there anymore for making students feel comfortable to go to school and get an education. Furthermore, I want you all to know, this is not a hashtag me too are like, like devaluing what was before and is now this is putting awareness to something that is an epidemic. I believe in a little bit of roughhousing, but I do not believe in being bullied.

Yeah, it's it's a and then even green brings back to memories like I remember my sophomore year, like my sophomore year. I got sick of the White country folk always messing with me. I really they were messing me up I was the type that, like, I didn't do sports, I was just more like, I was good in class. But I was smart. But then I was articulate, but I was good looking, too. But I never got in the mix with anybody, I just did my own thing. So after a while, when I'm putting a Volga here, will you hear people just call you nigger all the time, all the time. You walk down the hall, and they say, yeah, come on, load, nigger, keep walking. So it's almost like you want to fight people with words, but people, they're not ready. And then that shock value comes. So in order to like really combat this, you got to tell people if you're going to fight people, five people the smart way with bullies, because bullies they don't want to be stood up to, they don't want to you get the better of them. And their friends are looking at them. Like, you just gotta let them say that. So it's almost like that thing, way back in the day like kids would play the does is like, if I'm gonna talk about your mom, you're gonna talk my way, I'm going to make sure it hits any things harder than supposed to be, but because we know, that's how fighting really starts. But kids, they're so they're so stupid, really. Because they're, they're not trained to like just talk about what's going on. Because no one's actually given them a chance to have an outlet of any sort. And it's gotten even worse, because social media makes it even more of a, of a vibrant territory to where bullying goes to a whole nother level. Like, we can like just call each other names and move on. But no, if you become a meme, you will become a meme forever. And nobody will ever forget that.

And let's let's dive into a couple of different things. First, I want to dive into the role of administration and teachers within this first and foremost, and then we'll dive in to technology and social media. So So teachers, faculty, staff, and admin, have a role to play in accountability and making sure the schools are safe. However, there's been nearly two decades of crap that's piled on and piled on, and rules and red tape, where now we're in and we're in a day and age now, where the teachers have no power to be able to do anything. And then administration has some power, but they're protected by these labor boards and unions, where there are certain rules that they have to follow. So for example, in my district, right now, the rule for bullying is very simple. You have a three strike policy, so you have to do it three times before you're suspended. So in my mind, yeah, I know. So watch this in my mind, okay. So say Person A, beats the living heck out of someone, right? And then the next time, they don't beat the living heck out of them, they bring a knife to school, stab and kill them. They didn't get in trouble, whatever, three strike rule, right, like 333 times and then you're suspended like I'm trying not to laughs at

all right that either I wait a bit. So you have to do something three times before it becomes serious to where you just expelled them or kick them out or whatever it might be. Whereas ISS Oh,

that's not expulsion, dude. That's suspension. Oh, there's more. There's more to this. You have to you have to be so like, messed up and do it so much TV get the hopes of expulsion? Like, what is this shit? Seriously? Like, what is this shit? Like, when I was in school? It was one time and you're, you're done. You're done. That's it. Now, what we're doing is is there's no accountability, right? There's no, there's no safety net. There's no anything like we're really barred by all this red tape bullshit. Okay. And I'm sorry, like for everyone that's listening. And first, how serious of a topic it is. Well, and I aren't laughing at the topic. We're laughing at the goddamn policies and like, where how did we get here?

Soft people. Fairy Bo gritty? Yes. Yo gritty, soft as moist people, the people who they said that they cared, and then the ones who bullied they grew up and now they became the administrator. They became the powers that be. So with that, they they almost took over to where they're going to allow it. But they're going to put stipulations into it to make sure like, oh, yeah, let's give these office kids a chance because you know, these pissy as parents, they don't know what they're doing. So we'll just cover it for them. So it's, it's a repetitive cycle of stupidity. It really is a serious me Net.

Let's paint the picture a little deeper here. Well, it gets worse.

He gets worse. Let's paint this picture. Here we go. All right.

So let's start out with where my daughter is. She's in elementary school. Okay. Right now as it stands her rules and this is her coming home to dad every single day, Dad, I have an issue. All right, what is it Peyton? I have these two boys that continue to call me a fat cow, hold my hair and slap me. And I go to tell my teacher. And my teacher says because they've already been aware of these kids being bullies to begin with. There's nothing that she can do. So wrap your head around that for a second. Okay, wrap like think for a second on that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. It gets worse. You're ready for this one?

Yeah. So

these kids, in my opinion, that are doing this and with the repercussions that they're getting, which is nothing, okay. is essentially teaching my daughter who is 10 years old, that it is okay for boys to slap, beat you call you a fat cow pull your hair. It is okay for that. And mind you Peyton hasn't retaliated and Peyton retaliates, she gets in trouble. But she's the victim. Remember this. So let's move forward. Okay, so let's move forward to the middle school. This is the skit and worse, you go to the Middle School. And in the middle school, you have these kids that are blatantly smoking pot in public. They're fucking in the bathrooms. They're not getting in trouble at all. They're in the classroom, where the teacher is trying to teach, but they're not paying attention because they're on their phones doing whatever, whatever they're calling the teacher names, whatever the case may be, and there's no repercussion there. So they're being allowed to act like heathens. And then you get to the high school. Here we go. Here's where the cherry just falls on top. So, at the high school, I have I've nice, right, she she told me first day of school, she walks in, she walks into the stall, to hearing like two or three couples just fornicating in the stall, and then like you walk outside, there's like condoms, there's, there's drugs, there's girls that are beating other people for no reason. There's like foul attitudes, there's no respect. There's no accountability, there's no nothing. And then you look at the administration, and they're not doing a damn thing about it. Not one damn thing?

Well, there can be some a little bit of understanding when it comes in administration. And because we know with teachers, they are really underpaid. They are. And that's what they got don't get is if you know you're going to be underpaid. Why the hell would you want to become a teacher? That that's a really legitimate question. And I can care less to say, oh, I want to mold young minds. Fuck that we're not going to do everything for free. We're not going to do it for the joy of something. We're doing somebody to get paid? Because that's what we want to do. How are you going to go to school for almost six years of undergrad and then a couple years of grad, get your teaching certificate, sub for a couple of years and then become a full time teacher? And then it's like, it's the greatest thing ever. And then you wonder why, you know, teachers are sleeping with students because they have no other choice. Like, there. There's just the sad students are. And it was like, there, you're right, there is no accountability. But it's another thing is it. It's one of those things that I keep saying, that is a repetitive cycle, that broken homes or raising broken people, is a truly repetitive cycle. And if you're not really alarmed what's going on at home, then ages it carries to the school, you take your anger frustrations out, everybody. Now that's a bit to the middle school, when it gets to the high school. That's just a different story. They're just, they're fucked up. They're gonna be fucked up for the rest of their lives. So there's some good ones, there are some bad ones. And they're just ones that we just might see them on the 10 O'Clock News, or asking, asked me what to do on paper or plastic, or we want fries with that, you know, wherever the market might be. But it really comes down to it's all about your home environment. How are you conducting yourself at home? Where are you seeing at home that makes you carry out in school next day? So it's it starts at home really it does. And the administrators that we have in place their ad, it says well, because I can remember. Like my my principal. He was sleeping with my guidance counselor. We all knew it. And she used to carry a flask in her purse and drink on the job. Like she was a really she was a stone out drunk and didn't give a damn you go into her office, she already smell like it was happy hour. It was nine o'clock in the morning. So it just goes to show you that. If they don't care, they're going to make it No, because they're just there. for the hell of it.

It's five o'clock somewhere, right?

You didn't write it is.

But here, let me paint this picture more. So I have an article written by Rhett Schumann. And the article title is the truth of Fernley High School. Okay, this is the high school that my daughter is slated to go to. Okay, this was written in 2021. So it's still relevant. Okay. So let me just read an excerpt from it. What would you do if your child was being bullied or sexually harassed out there school? School is meant to be a safe learning environment. But what is protocol when that environment is interrupted? What is the school administration's job in these situations? What if the school brushed off any and all allegations brought to them by their own students? These are questions surrounding a school in our own backyard, which is FHS. Right? The one I was telling you about. So the article goes on. This is a formal female that was at this high school, okay. 1700 people signed a petition. And they sign it's continuing to be signed this day, right? Once you sign the petition, you have the option to leave a comment. When you sign it right. There were over 85 comments that were put on to that. Okay, some of these accom comments include on signing this petition because I personally dropped out of FHS, my freshman year due to severe bullying after I was raped, and the whole school found out and accused me of lying. I went to the counselors and admin and told them what happened. And instead of helping, they brushed it off and sent me back to class with my rapist. That's one comment. Here's another comment. They've failed us. Pretty, pretty brief. Pretty easy comment right there. Yeah, watch this. It gets worse. It got so bad I self harmed and they gave me a pap, which I don't know if you know what a PAP is. It's alternative placement education program, until my mother took me to West Hills, which for you to know, because you're not from here. West Hills is a mental facility. So took took the kid to West Hills. They didn't want to deal with me or have other kids see me like that. So I'd like to personally thank the FHS office staff for my trauma that I'm still going to therapy for today. There's another comment you're seeing. Here's one I hated every moment of every day in this sad excuse for school. I reported my friend's stepfather for beating her. Nothing happened. My other friend reported a boy threatening to shoot her. They said they can't do anything. One of my friends was jumped, and the school actively fought against her. You know, what are we fucking doing? Dude,

you're right, everybody's gonna buy high school every day and never fail. It never felt there was a bomb threat called it every day before second period. It never fucking failed every day. And it's just It goes to show you like the mental and the mentality of these kids. It's growing into a more severe severe cry for help because no one is trying to help anybody. They're just masking it to where, oh, we'll deal with it, but only when it gets really severe after like their fifth or sixth strike when they've really done something bad. So it's like, who's guarding? Who? Who's watching who? Like, should we be watching the teachers should you know we say hey, maybe I should go to counseling, you know, cuz maybe all overworked and underpaid, but then the kids, they're more overworked than anybody because they have to do so much, you know, almost prepare themselves for adult life. Because after 18 It just pushes you out and they will give it they're like I don't know, man. It's different for me because I think I grew up at a time right to where social media was about to start. But you still had to, you still had to work for dates, you still had to be accountable. You know, I had some good teachers that I still remember to this day had some bad ones. But it was up to me to make my own mark because I didn't want to be another statistic. I didn't want to be another black kid who dropped out. And then I would have to like go get my GED. So it's like it's hard to really not put the blame but really give a definitive answer on what's really going on.

Isn't it sad? That what We've come to you seriously.

Truly is this really sad?

So I'm going to, I'm going to show you something else to this. This is this is for because this is going to be on, on video for us on YouTube. So I'm going to show a video real quick, I'm going to share my screen so people can see it. This is at Sid FHS. This happened three, three days ago. Okay, I FHS. So I'm about to show you what we're dealing with. We will be right back after a quick break. Hello, chop nation. I hope all of you are enjoying the guests and content we share weekly. Now, I need a favor from all of you. There's a ton that goes into making it successful podcast. And most of this can't be done without your support. So please head on over to your favorite social media platform. And please follow us. This is important so we can communicate important updates to all of you. Also, we love hearing from all of you. So please drop us a comment and let us know how we are doing. Lastly, if you haven't left us a five star review yet, please head on over to your favorite platform that you listen to your podcasts on and drop us a review. We really do appreciate all of you and the continued support as we look forward to dropping more fun and relevant content. This episode is brought to you by speakeasy tattoo company located in Fernley, Nevada, that's at 420 East Main Street Fernley Nevada. There's nobody else I'd rather go to when it comes to my tattoo needs between the experience of the whole staff, the creativity, the knowledge, and the overall dedication to making sure that your piece looks good. There's no better tattoo parlor than speakeasy tattoo company. So please, if you haven't done so already, check them out at www dot Speak Easy. Tat CO that's Speak Easy T A T T c o.com. and book an appointment today. That right there is sad, dude. real sad.

So you can see the girl she's just she's walking away. She's probably saying no, don't do this. Leave me alone. You can just tell by her body posture. And it's oh my god. No, everybody's just walk walking paths. Not seeing a goddamn thing. Like no one wants to get involved. Everyone else would be saying, oh, let's stand up. Let's combat this. But no one takes a stand for nobody. Everybody's a fucking individual. Everybody.

So that's for that that victim that was getting mauled. is the daughter of someone I'm close to. Okay. And I know how the daughter feels I'm not going to exploit names or anything. But of course not she can fight she chose not to, because the repercussions are the same. Number one, number two, this video right here is the catalyst or moving forward on what you and I are trying to do right now, which is we're trying to create a change that right there is BS, though, that, like you saw it, there was no voice or anything. But if I were to turn on the sound, kids in the background, we're encouraging the fight. And how did the fight even start? There was no nothing to provoke it at all. Nothing.

At first, she was just sitting there. And then she got up and started backing away.

Because she knew something was gonna happen. Yep. Yeah. She knew she smart girl. She knew something was gonna happen. And this is what I'm talking about. That's the bullying part. This doesn't include teachers that are advancing on their high school students trying to have sex with them. This doesn't include rate this doesn't include the blatant disrespect within the schools. This doesn't include all of that at all. This accountability piece right here in the education system is lacking. And it is not okay. And we haven't addressed the next part yet. We will the parenting part we will get to but first I want to end this on the education side. That right there is bullshit and that's not acceptable. That is not a safe environment for a kid to go to. To learn

at all. That's right. That is correct.

That is not okay. Like well, you and I are grown grown men do you and and we've been through our fair share of stuff when we were younger, but that shit is not okay.

No, it's not. And it's it's even it's cringing because you could just see she was sitting there peacefully, just peacefully She gets up and starts backing away. And it's like, I feel very bad for that girl. I really do. I feel for her because I've seen that happen. But also you see, like, people will like get up and just try to like walk off. But she had nowhere to go because there was a wall behind her. So she can go anywhere. And then here comes that two piece and a biscuit. So,

you know what the response of the school was for this?

Oh, my goodness. Okay, yeah, go ahead, Lay it on me.

There's nothing they can do. They gave her ISS for four days.

I asked her establish these OSS for a week.

She needs a lot more than that. Like, this is why I brought up this is why I brought up what I did in the beginning, there needs to be a change. There needs to be some form of counseling, there needs to be processes and procedures to help these young adults become citizens within our society because clearly that does not fly and clearly that right there to me. Someone like that is going to be in and out of jail.

Sure, screwed. Fucking screwed.

This this is one snippet like this is happening nationwide, bro. Like, this is one fucking little puzzle piece of the grander scheme.

I get it. And I want to go back to what you just talked about pain because, say, and I don't mean to make this sound like this. But this is my mind. If she was black. She came home to my mom and my mom said that fuck going to the teachers will roll to the parents house and be like, Why are you beating up on my baby? What is wrong with your sons? Do you have any fucking idea what's going on? So if our kids will continue to fight, we're going to fight because if they keep beating her ass, I'm gonna beat your ass and then sooner or later, it's gonna it's gonna get squashed could handle. But how dare you slap a kid? Call her a fat cow or whatever. Like you don't do that, like what the fuck is wrong with you? I just noticed she was black, which I'm not saying this. But it would be handled differently, like white people or black people. We handle things very differently. You're not going to bully your children. Because if that's happened, we're going to come to you and we're going to bully you. That's just how it's handled. Like that's handled as adults. So not that I'm saying that you're not doing that. Because what you're doing now does is very admirable. It is. I just know from what I've seen from my background, if that happens to my daughter, or if that's happened, someone else has done it. And she was black. Yeah, I asked when it got beaten a long time ago. Fuck three strike rule. Yeah, I'll give you three strikes across your face.

And I'm telling you right now, my friend like I it isn't different from black to white. Because I'm not scared to make a house call. I just know that I'm a single father and I'm all paid and has so if I made a house call and went to jail, that's not doing Peyton any good. Because I will go to jail. I'll beat the living hell out of someone. Oh, yeah, I know that. But But I also know I'm educated and intelligent. So I can I can really make an impact right now like we're doing and that's what we're doing.

Yeah. And I can roll up that degree and just slap a subject across your face. You're really using it? Yeah, yeah.

I get it. Did I get it? Like this, this like, like all joking aside, right? Like, we are trying to make this a little lighter. But all joking aside, this is a big deal. And this leads us to the next step, which is parenting, right? Parents are more absent now, in my opinion than they've ever been in children's lives. Okay. And it's due in large part to the fast paced society having to work more not making enough money, bad, bad dynamics, maybe maybe you have parents that you have a dad or a mom that are in and out of jail, and it's setting a bad example, whatever the case may be. Things stem from home life and bleed in to the school life. However, watch this before we dive into anything like opinion, please No more. No, no, no. And then another video No, no, no other video but watch this. This is where I get frustrated. You have parents that aren't absent in their children's lives that are trying to raise them right. But the kids are influenced by other kids on where they go. So anything parenting related is out the damn window. Because influences influence Okay, so you can be the best damn parent ever doing the right things by the kids. But the kids aren't Just learning from you, they're learning from their environment and where they go.

Yes. And you know, when you said that it reminds me of this movie that came out for those of you who are born after 2000, it was a movie called bully came out in like 2001 2002. And it was based on a true story where a guy was bullying a guy. And then all of them got together and killed him down in Florida and tried to throw him in a swamp. So that's what happens. Like you can be bullied by someone who is your best friend, your homie, you're a one since day one. But sooner or later, you'll get sick of it, and you'll kill somebody because you're tired of it. And this happens, it happens every day, to where you think you got the swarm of friends. And not just like your home life, but outside of your home where you know, people you're with, but you're always the butt of your jokes. So sometimes you might get sick of it, you're gonna shoot somebody. I know, I have plenty of friends like that, that I grew up with that one of them that he went to juvie because he like, beat the living shit out of a kid because he was just tired of his shit. He really was. And he was like talk of school for at least a good week. Like we were all shocked when it happened. And it just goes to show you that no matter what, even if you do have a stable foundation, a stable home life, sometimes it's the friends that you have are not always the friends that you need to keep.

And here's the deal, like I presented in the beginning, school shootings and deaths are on the rise. And it all attributes and is part of bullying. Most of the school shooters that are doing the shooting were bullied. That's bad. It's just bad all the way around. We already addressed that there's a lack of accountability, and a lack of processes in place in the schools. We've already addressed home life and parenting. Let's address the district level. So district letter, Oh, dude, it is. So I have I have a school board meeting on Tuesday. Okay. And here's the deal, they give you three minutes to talk and say what's going on. And you have to articulate that in three minutes for them to maybe, maybe make a difference. That it's it's just a broken process right now. And I'm not, listen, here's the deal. I'm not bashing on admins teachers are or the district level right now, this isn't about bashing on them. This is about bringing in awareness of something that's broken, something that's broken, that clearly needs to be fixed. And we need to come up with solutions. And we need more voices, whether it be students, whether it be parents, whether it be faculty, to voice their concerns, so we can get through this and come up with a new way of how to educate our kids and create a safe environment for education, how to enable, enable programs that are put into place for accountability. And to drive respect, again, in my opinion, to these young adolescents, having to learn how to respect better to be able to function in society later.

And it's almost you want to a and then you use your three minutes of us like well, what if your child, how would you feel? How would you feel if your child was getting bullied, or your child wants to bully? And even if you try to put into that general narrative, it's still going to be a problem because they're going to justify by saying, Oh, well, I don't think my kids do that. The fuck yeah, if your kid is influenced, or your kid is being neglected, they're going to do whatever they wanted to, that's gonna cause them to act out in air quotes. So it's really hard to get through the masses because they don't want to listen to reason. As well as you know, understanding coming from, you know, a parent's perspective, like my kids being bullied, I'm tired of your shit. We need to do more. Stop masking it, like put better, put better agendas. So you know, things like this don't happen. Like we can teach kids kids can be able to go to school and enjoy and want to come to school every day. Not be afraid to stay at home or fake sick or they'll do a half a day back. Oh yeah. I don't want to do this just clock out. Because after a while you get sick of it. And do you even have like two statistics when it comes to what graduation rates are after a child is bullied?

I do actually I wrote them down. So if we're looking at graduation statistics about 15% of kids nationally, drop out of school due to bullying and never graduate.

Yeah. And then he started working for Amazon.

Nice. That's and see, that's the bad part here. So those kids in indirectly ruin their own lives because they dropped out because they thought they had no other choice. And now they can't better themselves. And now, now we're getting in two bigger situations that I don't want to address on this podcast right now, because they're very political like, like going on to unemployment and our retention rate of people and like, there, there are bigger issues that these things stem from, from kids going to be adults.

I don't think that's political dashes more of latency of what could happen. If you don't, I won't even say mitigate if you don't stop it in his tracks. Because if you let if you don't take care of the wound, now while it's small, while his small to her, you're able to heal it, and it it, it clears up there, there might be a scar, but it won't be as huge as gash, that you just keep trying to throw a bandaid on, and figuring it's just gonna heal, no, you're gonna break, break the foundation of it set a new ground for. So we need to stop people from bullying each other we do, because nothing good comes from it. Either. It's, you know, more more fights, you know, more acts out, and eventually it'll lead to deaths, because that's what it does, that's all leads to is death. Nothing good comes out of someone being bullied. And I can say that because I one time I remember I was a bully, because I used to act out because I had behavior issues I want to say, because I won't say I had the best upbringing, but I come from a single parent home, where I just had my dad had, there are some times where, you know, I went to see my dad or spend time with him because he was always working, trying to raise my brother at night. And then you know, I would go to school or just act out and bully other kids it took it took one teacher to really sit down and talk to me, like me actually talking to a teacher, and to a guidance counselor, the teacher was Miss Laura, I never forget her. And then the guidance counselor was Miss saysky. So those two, they really helped me, you know, try to figure out what was going on. And then, you know, I grew out of it, I became a better person, because you don't want to be a bully forever. You just want to go to school, learn and enjoy and grow. So there has to be some type of intervention, some type of mitigate mitigation to where children are able to give a safe haven to where they know they're okay, they will be taken care of. But teachers don't want to do that, because they're too busy trying to sleep with them. So

yeah, the we've brought up so many problems. And I know we haven't brought up solutions yet. We'll get to that. But basically, as it stands right now, we have an epidemic that's not going anywhere. And we have a plethora of problems that are being put onto the plate. We have faculty and staff that can't buy hold people accountable. We have administration that's barred. We have the teachers union that has their own rules. And then we have district, right. And then we have parents who can't articulate. And so they go to these meetings, and they just come on done, and nothing's getting done. And then you have someone like me who's gonna go to the meeting, and be structured and not, I don't know what's gonna come of it. But what I do know is it's not going to stop for me because this isn't a one and done. This is something that if we're going to need a change, this is this is it. This is the start of the long haul right here. This is the start of a movement of something that needs to be done, not only locally for me and what you just saw, but nationally, because this isn't just a one off, this is happening everywhere.

And then. And then we wonder why we have so many people that are introverted or extroverted because of stuff like this.

Yeah, it's it's alarming. So let's, let's round off everything. And let's talk about potential solutions. Like we're not we're obviously not the be all end all. But we're smart enough to kind of figure out with what our knowledge is and what we've been through and what we're seeing, what are some potential ways that we can fix this? So in your mind, well, like all at all, open the floor to you first, like what do you think should happen? What do you think is the long game for this? What do you think we need to do to be able to move forward into something different? What are your thoughts?

There's just so many and It's really hard to say just one because it could be a multitude of reasons. If anything, maybe just, instead of automatically just discipline the kid, bringing the parent in, bring both parents in sipo, from from down, whether it's how, however many years, so they all know what's going on. Because you can't always keep this in house and not do anything, you can't keep it in house and then send a note home, or send a text or email, we're gonna stay UK because such such No, let them face it. They did it by themselves. Remember, like the saying goes was done in a dark will come to the light. So let's bring it to light bring the parents in so they know what's going on. So they can talk, like really start that, start that right there. And then somehow, some way, maybe something good can come about it. I think that could be maybe the easiest solution. If you really get parents involved, if you really care about children and their well being. That's my idea, my logical, white idea.

Let me ask you something else, because we didn't dive into it. And we can technology hiding behind the screen, cyber bullying, all of that, like, what role does that play?

It plays a huge role now. Because you know, when you and I was in school, we didn't have technology like that we had cell phones, but not like this. So it's not like we can get on Facebook or Instagram, we can like just talk shit all day. Now, kids can actually hide behind screens, but you can still find them. But there's going to be some type Avenue some type of outlet to where it's not going to stop. It may may stop physically, but emotionally, it won't. So it's hard to try to fight bullying online. Because once a grows leg is going to keep growing and growing. And it's hard to stop it.

I agree, I think the rise of technology. And like I said in the beginning were two decades into this epidemic. The rise of technology has created more issues, in my opinion, than good. I'm not saying that technology should disappear. But I'm saying that we need to have more responsibility and limited interactions with young adolescents on social media. And furthermore, with some of this technology, to be able to help them mature and use social media and other things like avenues to how you and I use it we use. We use social media and technology to educate people to or in your case for you and your podcast, to give people laughs And actually, like, help people to make it through their day. And then for my podcast, it's very much on education, on business and on investments and on bringing real examples in to help people move further and better themselves.

I just want to interject here for a minute. I've been on your page, and I have yet to see an investment that is really lucrative. So you need to do better there, buddy.

Hey, listen, first and foremost, buddy, not not to not to do anything mean here. You have to have money to be able to invest.

I look, but I never said to have money. I just see the idea that was lucrative.

All right. Well, I'll do better on that. Then all you know, I'm writing that down right now. Duly noted.

Yeah, he's not. He's not stop, stop.

So here's where I'm at. Because we're talking about solutions, right? I, I'm thinking about this right. And for the bully. I feel like what we have in place now is what they want, right? They want to get suspended. They want to not have to do school they want to like be they're almost being rewarded to be a bully. And so we have to think about repercussions and putting them in place for like really teaching like negative versus positive. Right. So for me, I don't have a clear cookie cutter answer. I have ideas. First and foremost, we have to give accountability, like back and we have to hold people accountable. That's first and foremost, I think there should be some form of counseling, or maybe a school counselor, you know, that actually dives into this a little more. I think there should be some support programs. I get it. I understand what you're saying I do. And again, I'm bringing up ideas that I think are great and well they happen who knows it for you you're saying no,

but it's not like that. It's just saying but you know you want to bring in more people and then you already adding work to them. are over abundant workload that they have already. So you're making them do more and in such amount of time that hell no, you want to be responsible for the shit that's going on now. And then, you know of a bully saying, oh, yeah, I guess spend it, then that's where it goes, we were just saying a moment ago to where that that dropout rate increases, because they just give up like, oh fucking Well, now for the people who are being who are being bullied the bullies like some of them drop out too, or some of them make it to Wall Street, you know, like our president did, we're experts at it. But that's beside the point. But still, I mean, it's just, you just don't know. Because even every avenue that you tried to take, there's going to be some type of loophole to where it's just, it won't work. Not to say it won't, because anything's possible, but you have to be realistic about this. So trying to give a teacher more responsibility to really put in the time to try to figure out like about this is really difficult.

I agree. And I understand the putting more work on when they're already not doing the work to begin with. But we have to, we have to start looking at what restructure looks like we have to, there are educators, and there are staff, faculty and admin, that is out there that does care. And that does want to do things, but they can't.

And we just fire them. And we just have robots teach them.

I mean, that's probably where we're heading to be honest with you. It

I mean, it's, it's not a bad idea. But it is a bad idea. Because the you get rid of the teacher element of it all, which that's the most important thing, having a person a person contact. So a robot is now most inclined to have some type of emotional attachment or emotional investment when it comes to teaching. So I mean, I wouldn't be my top AI robot, but I don't know. I'm a little indifferent about it.

All right. Yeah, I have no comment. I'm not even going to make a comment dude on, not at all, not at all off. Here is, here is what I'm going to do. I'm rounding this off and ending, I want to bring the light a couple of things. For those of you that are listening, that are out there. Maybe you guys are in school, maybe I have a couple of you that are listening, that are in school that are being bullied, please don't let being bullied, silence you. Please continue to speak up, please continue to be strong. Please continue to do the right things. Because we hear you. We're here, we're listening, we hear you. And we're trying to figure out a way to make this better, that it's it's not going to be an overnight thing. And it's it's it's a difficult road that is ahead for pretty much all of us, right? But we hear you don't be silenced. Don't be discouraged. And don't let that take anything away from what you are. For those of you that are being the bullies. Shame on you, and your time will come. And I promise you, you're not gonna like yourself 10 years down the road. I promise.

It really not. There's nothing wrong with peaceful protests. There's nothing wrong with taking a peaceful stance. But also remember people that you still have to protect yourself, no matter what. So we are we as people, we all have feelings, we can only take so many punches, whether it's physical, or mental. But you I have to say this, you have to learn how to stand up for yourself. You got to have some backbone, you can't keep just taking and taking and taking it and walking off. Like even Gandhi got sick of it, he did something. In that's the most peaceful person, I can say that you can be able to look up and understand about his struggles and what he did. But he still was able to fight back and still be able to look himself in the mirror and say, I took a stand, I did something. So running and hiding all the time is not going to do anything. I'm not going against what Dustin saying I'm just adding by saying you have to learn how to stand up for yourself. Because if you don't, you're going to be bullied forever. And people will see that and they'll take advantage of that. So yes, if something has happened to you talk to anybody who can who is willing to listen. But then also, you also have to do something to I'm not saying to be physical because violence has itself any day. But you know what, it tells a bully you don't want to be messed with and you need to leave you alone. So just take it as you are you want but just know speak up and speak out.

And lastly, I'm going to leave you guys with a quote that resonates with me for this app. So, which is, I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel. And that's from Maya Angelou, which is a civil rights activist. So I'm just letting you guys know, like, we are listening, we are going to make a difference. And the more voices that back this, and the more people that come into this old into this corner, we are going to be heard and something will have to be done, because they can't just let it keep going the way it is. And as Will said, he is not wrong, I'm not going to sit here and tell you to be violent, because that isn't that isn't the play. But what I am going to sit here and tell you to do is use use what your strengths are in order to protect yourself. So for me, my, my strengths are I can definitely be physical, but I also have an intellect as well, too. And so that's the strength that I'm playing off of right now to make that difference.

Definitely, definitely. And I'm not saying violence either people, I'm not saying that. Just just protect yourself. That's all it really comes because it's just you, and it's whoever it is. So it comes down to okay, they're gonna hit you, you go tell, but they're gonna keep coming back. It's like, you got to fight back somehow, someway. So don't always hide every time go tell somebody, whoever it might be, whoever. Well,

thank you. Just thank you for coming on and helping us through this. I know, it's it's a little different pace from what you're used to. But I also know that it hits home for you too. So I appreciate you coming on to co host with me for this one because it it's definitely a big topic. And it's something that I think you and I want to drive a difference. And so I appreciate you.

Oh, yeah, man, thank you so much. It does definitely hit home because like I said, earlier, I've been on both sides. So I know how it feels. But when I was going to be in bullied or fought back, I got sick of it. And I was like, I'm not going to take this anymore. I stood my ground after I told you know, my teachers, and my admins and everybody and no one did nothing. So I took it upon myself and I'm like, Alright, I fought back. But of course, I got OSS, but I was happy about it because I took a stand. I did something about it. And I was just happy that it came about. I wasn't very happy that I had to Cigna seclusion, but it was still it was so good. And that person never bothered me ever again. So thank you so much for having me, man. I really appreciate it. Honestly, I do. And this fight is not going to stop here. It's not we're going to make this a global day.

We are its influences banding together. And now it's time to use our talents and that's what we're doing. So, again, thank you guys, for tuning in. Thanks for listening. If you like what you hear and you're interested in more because like well said this isn't going anywhere. Please subscribe to any of our social medias at chopping wood fire and or if you want to listen to some of Will's stuff, subscribe to any of his social medias, which is at sarcasm and orgasms. And please drop us a line just drop us a comment. Let us know what we can do what you've been through. We're here we're here to talk. We like to definitely talk to people and really help out and make a difference. So thank you again for listening. Well, thank you for coming on. And this is another episode of chopping with fire