You talked one person out of it, but yet it's fine for another to do it, and then you say if others don't feel life is worth living they may off themselve - yet your first sentence says to stop one. Then you say it was your father you talked out of it, but previously you said it'd be fine if he off'd himself. This doesn't seem contradictory at all

Thats not bullying, its extreme abuse and assault. They are not one of the same.

I talked dad out of it because he wasn't in his right mind. I think if someone makes an informed decision in their right mind it's their choice- if he had killed himself even in his ill state of mind, I'd still see it as his right as a human being, even though he may have exercised that right misguidedly, and foolishly.

Capice?

SO why is it "not bullying"? Surely it is both?

I hope you don't mind me saying so, but that's an over generalizing statement that is also very ignorant. Where is the courage in bullying someone deemed "weaker" than you? Where is the courage in mobbing an individual? Where is the courage in tagging along with bullies so that you feel you belong, and in bullying someone just to get recognition from other bullies? Where is the courage in all that? It all shows a lack of compassion but also a lack of character, and a real cowardness.
of course it is, it's just extreme bullying... I really don't see the difference you're making here

edit: I'm getting out of this thread... way too depressing.

I say its just plain abuse/assault.
My line of bullying and whats more/less extreme may and probably does differ from yours quite a bit.
For me, bullying is simply name calling, shoving and generally annoying someone on purpose with the intention of upsetting or pissing them off, using any aspects of a persons physical and mental structure as a weapon against them. I think the bullying line gets crossed once the victim is being stalked and has their home targetted.
A scenario where what your experience was could be different; There are 2 gangs [x] and [z], now these gangs hate each other and have a tendency to fit using sharp weapons and/or any damaging thing at their disposal. Now one day gang [x] catch one of gang [z]'s members, chase him, batter him and before leaving they slash his face.
Would you say this is bullying or just plain assault.

Well unless you're implying I'm involved in gang violence, your scenarios are fatuous and without any sort of credibility or any semblance of relevance.

Not what I said, I said a scenario similar not the same, because well, I don't know you at all. It was just a scenario involving a mob targetting one indivdual.

well if you scenario was like mine, in which a group of older boys in a school setting ganged up on me, giving me racist abuse and insulting my father for his issues, whilst kicking me and putting out cigarettes on me, then I'd call that bullying. The scenario you provided is nothing like it.

You have to be rather dull to think that being involved in a gang and getting beaten and then slashed is anything at all like my previous situation.

But wouldn't you say that the bullying stopped after the racial slurs and slagging of your father, and then it became straight out abuse/assault.
Did you press charges againist these people?

No, here in the UK we have racists called skinheads. These were rather junior skinheads. No, I did not, but I switched schools because of it. The first secondary school I went to was rather rough, and they were favoured by staff, as implausible as it may sound. Skinheads are serious business in some parts, legal action isn't persued due to fear of reprisals.

So no, the abuse was almost solely racially motivated.

How is that not bullying?

I'm not really getting why you're saying that bullying stops at this point: the two aren't exclusive. Those behaviours can still encompassed within the general subject of bullying, at least by any definition I'm familiar with.

Should have taken action againist it then, skinhead or not, this just shows them they can get away with it because they are feared.

I've already said it was bullying and then it changed to straight up assault/abuse.

Not necessarily stop, full stop, but it changes form from being just bullying to assault and endangering a life.

No the coward part is in not doing something about it.

So you tell me, cowboy, what you'd do.

Police? What you described is a serious crime unless you live in somalia....

Bullying has many different forms; from the lesser name calling to the more severe, like actually beating on a kid.

In my eyes if the kids are under the age of 18 and a that type of stuff is going on, it's bullying. As you get older it's just immature to name call and stuff of the matter.

Thought I'd explained, they knew my family, they were connected to C18, or at least claimed to be.
http://www.google.com/search?btnG=1&q=combat+18+skinhead

So police cant help you there?

Not unless you want to provoke a terrorist group. Would you? If you, you're brave to the point of idiocy and probably have no regard for the safety of your family.

Well form the sound of your story your family was already in harm. So how could ocntacting the police hurt?

Because where I come from, a kicking is like a greeting if these guys were genuine C18.

From the wiki page on C18 "Members of Combat 18 have been suspected in numerous deaths of immigrants, non-whites, and other C18 members." "Weapons, ammunition and explosives have been seized by police in the UK and almost every country in which C18 is active."

What they were doing to me was a passtime in comparison to some of the [censored] they get up to, if they actually were bona fide c18.

Would you gamble your family's safety that they weren't?

Well move to another place? Also I wouldnt call taht bullying because that is a much worse crime.

well, we did eventually. I don't think it's fair to call me a coward. I endured that kind of [censored] because I knew I was getting off light.