Hello, everyone! In our last class, Kyosuke and I researched the term "appeal to tradition" related to critical thinking.
An appeal to tradition means an attempt to think something that happens now is true and acceptable because it has been so for generations, though it is not clear whether it will be in the tradition in the future or not.
Here is an example related to bullying.
For years, it has been concerned that bullied kids should become mentally stronger through enduring or overcoming bullying by their own. This traditional way of thinking still remains. That's why it sometimes happens that teaches or parents don't take the bullying problems so seriously, don't let the kids having opportunities to talk to them, leave the matter as it is and make kids solve it by themselves.
In the end, people don't notice that the cognition towards bullying and the ways to solve it should be changed. They don't recognize it sure is different from the past. Then, something irrecoverable happens, such as suicide.
It's a shame that people, even those who should know better, such as teachers and principals, still appeal to tradition when discussing bullying. Among Americans too, some people think that bullying is both natural and something that can make children tougher, both mentally and physically. As you point out, if bullying becomes so bad that it leads to suicide, or thoughts of suicide, that's not toughening kids, but causing them lasting harm. Times change and what used to "work well" for societies, doesn't always apply to the here and now.
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