Bullying Behavior In Frederick Douglass

1612 Words7 Pages

Historically and scientifically, surviving and competing is human nature, but to deprive it of one another is immoral. The bullying behavior derives from extremely self-centered individuals, and it is easily influenced and adaptive because people are self-preserved, which can lead to hindering others to survive. The immoral behavior is a nationwide problem, and in order for the matter to be resolved, it must start at home [America]. The Americans forcibly took Africans from their homeland for free labor and trained them in the most horrible way to obey. In the 1800’s, Frederick Douglass writes a book about his experience as an African American slave titled, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave,” and reveals …show more content…

However, in today’s society, it is not accepted. The children mimic their parents and learn from the mental state of an environment. As a third-grade teacher assistant, I tried explaining to a student that bullying is wrong. He could not comprehend the concept. He gave me a serious and confused look and said, this is the way we act at home. I was speechless and sympathetic because his bullying behavior was not his fault, he was born into the system and has not yet learned right from wrong, which made my job difficult. I had to constantly give him red discipline stickers on the behavior board. As a result, he became isolated and not engaged, and his work performance …show more content…

As normal, he could not function in another behavioral pattern without transformation (kind and respectful). Douglass speaks about his master and mistress in explaining the awkwardness of behaving in a manner that one does not possess, and says Captain Auld and Sophia Hugh are new slaveholders. Auld could not function properly as a new master and fail at it. He was inconsistent and soft in command. At times, he was strict and at another, he was flexible. The slaves knew he was not fit to be a master, instead of calling him master, they called him by his name (54). Unlike Auld, Mrs. Hugh did not fail in being cruel to her slave, Douglass. At first, she was kind-hearted towards him and was teaching him how to read, but that sudden change. In fact, treating him like a brute become her goal and success. She was influenced by her husband who told her it was unsafe in teaching Douglass how to read [forbidden] and treated like a human because it would jeopardize him being killed or a runaway slave (39-40). The similarity between the third-grade student and Auld is both could not function properly in a behavior other than their own, and they failed at it and was detested by society. As well, the student and Mrs. Hugh also had a similar experience, both were innocent of the bullying behavior and they were influenced by their family. However, as a society, we are all victims of the bullying

Open Document