At the end of the year, new students entered the graduate school and the popular young student had juniors under him. One of the entering students was not following the norm of the graduate school and his individuality stood out among the students. The popular student addressed the new student with some harsh words on his strange behavior which changed the atmosphere of the graduate school.
In our structured society taking circumstances into consideration and admonishing and criticizing is a common procedure when persons do their own thing and don't understand the atmosphere. This is an attempt to discipline them to join the group. It's no big deal. This is the reality not only in schools but in the military and the workplace.
The one being bullied knows there is a reason for the bullying and is slow to make it known and those who join in the bullying have a reason to justify it.
A special word is used for bullying in Korea which did not make its appearance until the 1990's although other expressions were always present. The professor wants us not to use the ambiguous word but to express what is being done by calling it 'violence' towards the person and 'ostracizing' the person.
In the last section of the article, he tells the readers that our society is cruel to those that don't follow the crowd and show this by disciplining the person. Consequently, persons who are different find it difficult to exist within a group and are left out in the cold.
In Korea, there is yet to be a Nobel Laureate in the sciences and he feels that one of the reasons is the way the culture continues to level the playing field. Those who stand out in the crowd for one reason or another are considered to be unlucky and odd balls. They find it difficult to continue being who they are.
Those who have changed the world in which we live have been creative thinkers and have done things differently from others and were considered 'unfortunate persons' but in the long run, have helped the larger society to which they belong.
Creativity is a personal quality but also a gift to society. When people in this mold are allowed to live like everybody else we will have a just society.
