I've Been Thinking

So... as you know I read this book. And I didn't appreciate the book, but there was at least one part that really got me thinking.

My fingers fly: "The first day in my new school these three older girls on the playground surrounded me. They were a pack. I was standing by the swings waiting for a turn and the leader said, 'You can't be serious. You couldn't even fit on that swing.' They all laughed. One of the other girls said, 'Even if you could squish in, we don't want you to break the new swing set.' I went to report them," I key, "but I found out the people with orange vests were the mediators. All three girls were wearing orange vests."

And then a little later in the book:

The principal says, "You've never reported any of this to the mediators. I don't have one report."

Gee... I wonder why... How does it happen that the people with all the power are the worst people in our lives at that moment? Father's rape their children, the people in charge at school are the bullies, bosses ask sexual favors in return for letting you keep your job, etc. How do you get around that? I suppose the boss on isn't as hard as the other, but the others are really hard. You go to your mother to tell her what's been happening, and she calls you a liar. When you go to tell the principal about the kids picking on you, he/she asks you why you haven't told the mediators.

I realize that it's too much work to do a background check on the students who want to be in charge, but really? You should at least pay attention to their behavior in class. If they are the type that is always picking on someone, obviously they should be allowed to be in charge of anyone.

And I know that there can never be a way to monitor who gets to become a parent. Still, I think that it should be made more obvious where people in that situation can go. It's not 911, because that is for emergencies happening now. They wouldn't be calling the police while it was going on, at least not typically. So who are they supposed to call?