Locking up the parents of the bullies right along with them though is a step in the right direction
Essay and anecdote time damnit.
Tough on crime bullshit never works. And that is stupid fucking tough on crime bullshit.
What part of that is going to
work? Really? What's the mechanism here?
No. I have some experience with how this works and you are wrong, wrong, wrong.
The Problem
I went to a highschool far worse than the ones you suckers talk about.
Your 'banned from' stories are nothing. WE got banned from Taronga Zoo for trying to feed broken glass to monkeys. WE got banned from the local technical college for ridding BMXs on the carpets in the main hall. And on the paintings. Which they took off the walls and put on the carpets. Just so they could ride BMXs on them.
OUR bullies never needed
reasons like monetary debts and blood was regularly and literally spilled on the sea of cement that our dated school was made out of.
If you went looking to see or hear about a fight around the school there you could easily find one basically ever day of the school week. Hell there were times in my life there, long extended months, where I couldn't go a week without PERSONALLY getting caught up in an act of violence. And not just some casual exchange of single blows or thrown rocks, that sort of shit could be daily during the bad times.
The problem was that no one in authority gave a shit. The school had a chain of disciplinary command that looked a bit like...
Teacher->Department Head->Head Teacher->Deputy Principle->Principal
Actitivities went on in that school that frankly warranted a call to the police, hell there were a few things that should have seen some kids go to court, but while you MIGHT find a teacher that wanted to take action, and MAYBE the department head would agree.
Well Head teacher and up just didn't want to know about it. They were all 'boys will be boys' assholes. Their disciplinary strategies were designed primarily to get you to piss the hell off and stop bothering them even if that meant you just went back to smashing each others heads into brick walls and throwing people down flights of cement stairs (which is usually less effective than it sounds I can assure you).
The deputy, to whom all violent incidents HAD to go to eventually basically locked both parties in a large room on their own for an extended period with instructions to work it out and agree on a punishment you would both share (during which presumably you either beat or threatened each other into the least possible sentence).
Hell the head teacher who was nominally in charge of 'anti racism' initiatives when approached by a friend of mine who had essentially been gang beaten along with his brother by like twenty guys for being basically the only asians in school simply said 'its none of my business' (he went on to become a high school principle elsewhere!).
The parents of the bullies don't fucking care either. Because frankly A) Their kid isn't a bully so shut the fuck up or get a walloping or B) Har HAR HAR, I'll give him a good walloping but I can't say it'll stop him, buts I likes doings it! or C) Wait, I have a kid?
So basically it was lord of the flies with a lot of cement. Everyone KNEW there basically weren't ANY rules and the only retribution as on the ends of your own personal fists.
...
The Solution
Then one day. We get new leadership. All top three positions on the disciplinary ladder are changed overnight. The new lady principal has an actual anti bullying policy. The new deputy takes disciplinary measures. Getting in a fight means you
might just get in some actual trouble.
Suddenly you would be lucky to hear about a fight once a week. Unlikely to get in one or even SEE one in person once a month. And yeah, it also coincided with most of my year leaving (we were real bad-uns, worst in the schools records) and with me being old enough and with a big enough reputation (despite my tiny size) to have largely defeated all my few remaining personal enemies anyway.
But there was a real measurable difference out there. Ambulances only came to school for
accidents you could virtually see the little year 7s and 8s dancing in the quadrangle in glee no longer afraid of going, well, everywhere that other students were at.
And while it might look like a tough on crime approach it is important to note that the punishment they doled out was NOT extreme or unusual. In fact. It was basically only the really rather lame punishment already mandated under the rules the LAST lot of administrators were SUPPOSED to be following.
If you went and beat on some kid you could know that the following would likely happen...
1) You might be sent to the school councilor to talk out your 'anger issues'
2) You might be sent to the deputy and, good god,
get yelled at.
3) The deputy would
actually take an interest make a simple judgment of guilt on available information, take sides and if he found you at fault apply such terrifying punishments as a brief suspension or time in detention.
4) There was an added measure that made going to watch a fight a minor offense for a student. That was handy, the blood thirsty mobs were often worse than the individual opponents. (I never ran from even the most hopelessly violent bully, but I ran from a mob once and I'm damn lucky I got away.)
And that was basically IT. A bit of god damn loud disapproval and the vague threat of maybe some far distant expulsion if the detention and suspensions didn't get through to you.
Studies back this up. NO punishment means crime. ANY punishment means less crime. INCREDIBLY SEVER punishment doesn't help.
...
Not the solution
On a related note.
Another piece of advice people give out that is useless about 'solving' a bullying problem is 'punch back and beat the fucker up, bullies are cowards'.
I did that. Largely through short temper than logical reasoning.
It worked great. For about five seconds.
See. Low level bullies, the guys that prey on some kid no one else notices. They ARE cowards. And fricking wimps. You can virtually take dolts like them out of your life with single a brisk slap about the face.
And if you lived in happy princess wonderland highschool that might be the end of the story and you live happily ever after.
But highschools where bullying really IS a problem aren't like that. It's not an episode of Growing Pains. Its an episode of a Japanese fighting anime.
When you defeat the wimp bully he gets revenge by finding the toughest guy HE knows and telling him to fight you.
When you defeat HIM he goes and gets the toughest guy he can find and tells him you called him a fucking twat and want to fight HIM.
And it keeps going until they find someone you can't beat or until you are on top of a DAMN large heap of bullies.
For me I got a big enough name that assholes moving into the school from out of town would be sent to fight me as an initiation hazing prank among asshole circles, or would seek me out on their own to make a name for themself.
Hell. I'm pretty sure I met my fucking highschool sweetheart because some fucker basically sent her to fight me.
A pity some junior psychopath smacked her in the head with the Cadillac Modern Encyclopedia and basically put an end to her (small) hopes of a moderately healthy life span.
Anyway. So yeah. "Hit them and they go away" is also bad advice unless you live in one wimpy bully town.
And probably isn't a great idea even then.