What apes can teach us about bullying
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[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
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