What apes can teach us about bullying

[Music]

[Music]

if an ape can do it

why can’t we can you imagine that an ape

species did a very important thing in

their development

that we still can’t do they got rid

of bullying you probably had experience

with bullying maybe you were bullied or

were a bully or maybe your friend

siblings kids someone in your life has

encountered bullying at some point

in fact every day 160 thousand kids

across our country

skip school because they’re afraid of

bullying

almost twenty percent of elementary

school students are bullied

and forty percent of teenagers in a

number of countries

around the world have been involved in

bullying

whether as the victim bystander or

bully so why is something so dangerous

so widely accepted among children and

youth

many grown-ups may think it’s not a big

deal

kids will be kids stuff like this always

happens

or it’s normal so what

normal normal what is normal

is it normal for an eight-year-old to

not be able to eat

or sleep knowing that she’s being called

lame ugly

and stupid online

is it normal for a 12 year old to start

failing his classes

because he can’t bear the thought of

walking into school and feeling like

he’s nothing

is it normal for a 15 year old to even

think about ending her old life

because she’s scared and lonely

she’s filled with pain no one

understands

suicide is the second leading cause of

death among youth

and over 50 of these suicides are

because

of bullying i must say that in modern

times

the issue of bullying has thankfully

been taken more seriously than it was

hundreds of years ago in the 19th

century

bullying was considered a simple

misadventure a mishap

in fact around 1885 an incident occurred

at a uk meal boarding school

involving bullying which resulted in the

death of one of the students

those who investigated the incident

stated that behaviors such as bullying

were standard and acceptable for a

school boy to experience

no punishment was delivered

even though this would probably not be

the case nowadays

we still have a long ways to go

it is crucial for us to take a long

serious look at bullying

and see that we truly have the power to

change it

not just by medicating its symptoms but

by really digging into its core

now raise your hand if you’ve ever asked

yourself

is he society without bullying even

possible

i know i have i’ve wondered

is bullying really the useful

evolutionary strategy it has been called

is it truly innate could it be normal

for us as humans to do

evolutionary anthropologists have looked

at chimpanzees

for over a hundred years to explain

human behavior

this may seem logical as chimpanzees are

one of our closest living relatives

but there is a problem chimpanzees are

very violent and aggressive

chimp males bully weaker chimps and

attack females to get what they want

their society is built on competition

dominance

and hostility the wrong time a parallel

has been drawn to

human behavior and bullying has been

considered

and excused as the norm

it’s what i heard at school in the media

from my friends to this game we have

looked at chimpanzees

to explain and justify our negative

actions as an evolutionary

need perhaps it is time we take a look

at a different ape species

a species that has been forgotten by

science for a really

long time it has even been called the

forgotten species

this species is the bonobo apes

bonobo apes have no bullying and

genetically they’re the closest to

humans

sharing 99 percent of the genome

maybe bullying was a successful

evolutionary strategy in the world of

chimpanzees

which relied on the survival of the

fittest

but as the bonobos diverged from

chimpanzees and loved the law of the

jungle behind them

they were able to form a society where

bullying no longer existed

so why haven’t we in our advanced

society that has clearly moved away from

its caveman stage

although it can be said that humans are

slightly more attractive than bonobos

as evident in this picture that i drew

there are important things that we can

learn from them

bullying may not be as innate as we may

think

so what makes bonobo so special

for one they’re called the apes of

friendship and it’s for good reason

if a bonobo is ever feeling stressed or

is in a conflict with another

they will simply hug to make things

better

bonobos are also incredibly altruistic

they are willing to sacrifice their food

for the benefit of friends

family and even strangers for example a

study was conducted

in which two bonobos who did not know

each other were placed in two separate

rooms separated by a fence

if one bonobo in one room climbed the

fence it would cause a piece of fruit

to fall into the room of the second

bonobo

what do you think this first bonobo did

he climbed the fence that is something a

chimpanzee would never do

a champ would fight to get as many

resources for itself

as possible what would you do if it gave

someone else

let’s say a beer or chocolate and not

you

that’s for you to think about

bonobos also have a strong sense of

community

there is a lot of mutual help within

each bonobo group

and the bonds and solidarity between

females are particularly

important the friendships female bonobos

can form

are incredibly strong which is rare

among mammals

if a bonobo ever receives any unwanted

male attention

or aggression her friends will be there

to help

female bonobos often even form

coalitions

to make sure there’s polite behavior

happening and safety is insured

to compare chimpanzee societies are

strictly patriarchal

and females will frequently be subjected

to bullying by males

without any negative consequences for

said males

bonobos thwart priming patriarchal

traditions by including females in

leadership roles

we’ve realized we might need to work on

that more

but bonobos have been doing this for a

really

long time as i said before females are

in charge of combating violent behaviors

and making sure there is order in the

group

plus in bonobo communities elders in

general are very respected

and the oldest females will have the

highest status

additionally bonobos have high societal

tolerance

bonobos love food so researchers

frequently use food as the measurements

and unlike chips who only help those

they know

bonobos share their food with apes

outside of their social

circles to them in group or out

group different or the same just doesn’t

matter that much

sometimes they might even do this on

purpose

to broaden their friend group nobles are

actually known to offer banana bribes

for the sake of making friends think

about that

all of the things that i’ve described

show and i’ll say this again

that if even the bonobo apes can do it

we can definitely create a kinder and

bullying free future

each of us here today in the audience

behind the stage

on the other side of the screen we can

truly create a society

where bullying does not exist anymore

let us look to the bonobos as an example

their society and dynamics as

demonstration

of what we ourselves do and do not have

and what we can still change

we need to stop looking at chimpanzees

and making excuses

it is time to look to bonobos and create

change thank you

[Music]

you