Criminalise Bullying

mirekb wrote: »

At the age of 13 someone in my school decided to call me a name. It was very funny to call me that. Even more funny when their friends called me it too. Then even more funny when the kids in the older classes started too. Sounds like nothing right? But noone ever talked to me, they just hissed that name at me. Or sometimes shouted it. And pointed. And laughed. And kicked my chair, and took my lunch. The boys would touch my bum and chest, and hold me down and laugh. The girls would egg them on. I was in boarding school so it was day and night.

Now, I don't care anymore, I'm a grown up, there's no self pity here. BUT to tell my thirteen year old self to stand up for myself is laughable - and to tell my thirteen myself to stop crying and cop-on it's just 'someone calling me a name' is insulting.

What happened to you was utterly disgusting tbh and my heart goes out to you. The two sides of bullying need to be more educated in my opinion. The victims need to be taught how to deal with it be it physical or mental and the perpetrators need to be made aware that their behaviour is one of a sociopath and given a medium to air their problems and insecurities.

I have learned from experience that having an emphasis on attacking someone either physically or mentally is not the best form of defence. At best the bully will still remain a bully moving on to the next victim even more embittered from the experience of being stood up to while at worst the victims anger will overwhelm them making the situation even worse and empowering the bully more, perhaps you could also create a situation where the victim is seen as the perpetrator.

The recommended course of action is to tell but the entrusted people use the 'crack a nut with a sledgehammer' approach and that's where the real problem lies. Your covering an open wound with a band aid at that stage. Rather than shout and roar and punish they should try separating both the victims and perpetrators and perhaps give all parties involved the opportunity to get their problems off their chest with a professional.

Thats an ideal world of course but we must strive for perfection

Pottler wrote: »

As a daily reality, I have a few employees, varies from time to time, usually somwhere around a dozen to about 20 depending. Within that fairly small group, bullying does emerge, it just does. But, It's an open door to come to me and state what is happening, and by god it stops there and then, immediatly.

It is, to me, totally unnacceptable, full stop and if there was a glimmer of a repeat, I'd fire the perpetrator and everyone knows that's my policy. It has seldom if ever needed more than a very firm, unambiguous laying down of the ground rules to nip it in the bud. So, I'm not unrealistic, I know some people need support and back-up, but I do not think it is somthing you can legislate for.

i was savagely bullied while working in new zealand over a decade ago , the boss saw my accusations as an affront to the company and him , now new zealand has a well deserved reputation for terrible employers ( kiwis cannot bare anyone complaning about anything anyway ) but i know that many irish bosses here take the same attitude towards complaints, they view the one complaining as the problem , the one who needs to be marginalised and rooted out

hyperborean

goose_gladwell wrote: »

why are you asking about the bully

my only concern is the victim , i dont care what the bullys reasons are or motives , i can sympathise with someone stealing because they are poor but not antagonising others

Thats a very myopic point of view and it would certainly yield very few solutions when dealing with bullying!

You have to understand the why the antagonist is doing what he is doing before you put in place processes to stop it happening in future,

catallus

goose_gladwell wrote: »

why are you asking about the bully

my only concern is the victim , i dont care what the bullys reasons are or motives , i can sympathise with someone stealing because they are poor but not antagonising others

How is theft not antagonising others?

hyperborean wrote: »

Thats a very myopic point of view and it would certainly yield very few solutions when dealing with bullying!

You have to understand the why the antagonist is doing what he is doing before you put in place processes to stop it happening in future,

The "why" is usually because the antagonist is an arsehole.

http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/25249

goose_gladwell wrote: »

many people bully because they like it , they get off on the power of dominating others

lack of education has nothing to do with it , its lack of decency

But dominating others is to satisfy their own insecurities. I don't believe any one human being is born with the intention of harming another. Life experience be it bad parenting, being a victim of bullying themselves, perhaps being abused could be the cause.

GRMA

Deleted User wrote: »

The recommended course of action is to tell but the entrusted people use the 'crack a nut with a sledgehammer' approach and that's where the real problem lies. Your covering an open wound with a band aid at that stage. Rather than shout and roar and punish they should try separating both the victims and perpetrators and perhaps give all parties involved the opportunity to get their problems off their chest with a professional.

Thats an ideal world of course but we must strive for protection

I don't know, though, is giving a bully a platform/more attention the way to go? I always think of it in terms of a child wanting attention. If a child's behaviour is unacceptable the best thing to do is tell them so calmly and then just walk off and completely ignore them. People hate being irrelevant, so if the only way to be relevant is to behave well they will.

I tell my son, if they bully you laugh at them and walk off. Never let them see they've hurt you and they'll get bored. It may not address the problem of the bully going off and bullying someone else, but it addresses the problem for my son. The larger problem of the bully is a harder one.

Pottler

goose_gladwell wrote: »

i was savagely bullied while working in new zealand over a decade ago , the boss saw my accusations as an affront to the company and him , now new zealand has a well deserved reputation for terrible employers ( kiwis cannot bare anyone complaning about anything anyway ) but i know that many irish bosses here take the same attitude towards complaints, they view the one complaining as the problem , the one who needs to be marginalised and rooted out

This issue only ever usually arises with new hires, they come from companies that seemed to accept "robust banter"(feck off) and "a bit of horseplay"(also, feck off). Once they get my version, ie, here we're a team, we play nice, we treat each other with respect, or we go off and find somwhere else to go to from 8-4, they get the message. Sometimes it is bloody hard to deal with though, because then it goes all subtle, so if someone seems not to get the message, i let them go. I've had bullying as a kid, i know how much fun it is. Now I'm a big, hairy full grown man, so, no, don't give me your guff, be nice, thanks.

Lone Stone

syklops wrote: »

One of the messages the late TD got on his facebook went along the lines of "I'll murder you. You deserve to be murdered for your comments". Thats a death threat. Even on boards I cant call call someone an idiot, so I don't understand why those kind of comments are ok'ed on public fora.

You can disagree with the government. There is nothing wrong with that, but comments like the above, which Shane McEntee was subjected to hundreds of, have no place in debate.

Look i dont agree with people making threats to a person's life, but these were also on facebook and not behind any form anonymity assuming those comments were made by real accounts that is, if those threats were taking seriously the persons name is right there and the gardi could be contacted. Censorship is already possibly the comments could have removed the people blocked atc.

But i find it hard to swallow this argument as none of those comments would have been made towards the man had he not made his own stupid comments, stupid comments of late which seem to be pouring out of our government a women murder being used a retort in the dail by enda kenny etc, these people dont seem to understand that the way they are behaving affect how people will react to them. So before a big censorship of social media outcry comes out because of this TD they need to seriously wake up to their own behavior and attitude towards the public.

But if the politicians are finding it hard to cope with the public's opinion online perhaps they just need to "get on with it".

catallus wrote: »

How is theft not antagonising others?

The "why" is usually because the antagonist is an arsehole.

id rather have someone rob me than mercilessly bully me , robbing is not personal , ive been robbed , i was annoyed but got over it

a person who is hungary needs to steal a loaf of bread , they do not need to emotionally destroy someone , its not a practical nesscessity , people who do that enjoy being cruel and are nasty

gozunda

hyperborean wrote: »

Sorry but I don't see your point in relation to my concerns?

How will bullying be legislated for?

In a nutshell...
As an assault against the person where actual harm has occurred due to the persistent and deliberate behavior of another

I would not be in any way be qualified to write the draft of any such legislation - however that does not mean there could / should not be prosecutions where a person has suffered actual harm

Tbh - I see such assault in the same light as actual physical assault

hyperborean

catallus wrote: »

The "why" is usually because the antagonist is an arsehole.

That type of emotive attitude is typical of a dead end street, nothing learned or to be gained from it.

The thread is about legislating for bullying not venting,

On that note I will leave you lot at it for tonight, I wish you all well and hope you can lay your demons to rest. bullying is deplorable and has no place in modern society but we are a flawed animal and changes are slow. . be cool

catallus

hyperborean wrote: »

That type of emotive attitude is typical of a dead end street, nothing learned or to be gained from it.

The thread is about legislating for bullying not venting,

On that note I will leave you lot at it for tonight, I wish you all well and hope you can lay your demons to rest. bullying is deplorable and has no place in modern society but we are a flawed animal and changes are slow. . be cool

I'm not being emotive or emotional; the fact is that bullies are usually like that.

hyperborean wrote: »

Thats a very myopic point of view and it would certainly yield very few solutions when dealing with bullying!

You have to understand the why the antagonist is doing what he is doing before you put in place processes to stop it happening in future,

why ?

my concern is for the person who is on the recieving end of abuse , not the one dishing it out , they choose to abuse , their reasons are of no interest to me

if i employed someone in the morning and made their life hell , that i was myself visciously bullied in work overseas would be no defense whatsoever

Pottler wrote: »

This issue only ever usually arises with new hires, they come from companies that seemed to accept "robust banter"(feck off) and "a bit of horseplay"(also, feck off). Once they get my version, ie, here we're a team, we play nice, we treat each other with respect, or we go off and find somwhere else to go to from 8-4, they get the message. Sometimes it is bloody hard to deal with though, because then it goes all subtle, so if someone seems not to get the message, i let them go. I've had bullying as a kid, i know how much fun it is. Now I'm a big, hairy full grown man, so, no, don't give me your guff, be nice, thanks.

was nothing like that

this charming lady was a sectarian bigot who,s hatred and contempt was absolute and unconditional , then their was the slander and lies - charechter assasination

good humoured hazing is one thing , visceral contempt is another

have you ever had somone say the following to you

" give me one reason why i shouldnt treat you like sh1t "

" id piss myself laughing if you got your head kicked in "

the boss told me to get over it

syklops

But i find it hard to swallow this argument as none of those comments would have been made towards the man had he not made his own stupid comments

Well there you go, thats the issue. If you want to engage in debate, thats fine, but it is possible to get your point across with out resorting to that kind of vitriol. If I called you stupid I would get an infraction, but because he is a public figure its ok to launch any kind of attack on him and there are no consequences. Thats the problem.

Aside from that, the last politician we had who told everyone what they wanted to hear was Bertie and look how that ended. A politician who said it like it was was just what we needed. Its such a terrible shame it ended the way it did for him.

leggo

I was a bully in school. I'm doing a lot of work in helping with anti-bullying research these days, and spreading awareness in what actually helps the bullying stop (which is all we want, ultimately). What I'm finding is that people react with their emotions in coming up with their opinions and suggestions which, while understandable, isn't necessarily helpful or constructive.

During the week, TheJournal.ie were kind enough to publish a column that I wrote on the subject. Have a read if you like, I think some might find the results of what stopped the bullying interesting.

Most recently, I have been working with anti-bullying workshops in secondary schools. There I have found that the kids actually seem to respond to what we're suggesting. Whether it pays off in the long-term or not is yet to be seen, but we'll see. It's certainly a new approach. And everything that has been tried in the past certainly hasn't worked; if anything, things have gotten worse.

What will help this problem go away is to understand why it happens to begin with. I also feel that educating people while young will change their behaviour growing older. I don't think legislation will work. Schools and workplaces implementing effective policies that consider the nature of bullying, then enacting them, will.

hyperborean wrote: »

That type of emotive attitude is typical of a dead end street, nothing learned or to be gained from it.

The thread is about legislating for bullying not venting,

On that note I will leave you lot at it for tonight, I wish you all well and hope you can lay your demons to rest. bullying is deplorable and has no place in modern society but we are a flawed animal and changes are slow. . be cool

high minded pious crap which sociology and philosophy majors specialise in

has no value in the real world

mirekb wrote: »

I don't know, though, is giving a bully a platform/more attention the way to go? I always think of it in terms of a child wanting attention. If a child's behaviour is unacceptable the best thing to do is tell them so calmly and then just walk off and completely ignore them. People hate being irrelevant, so if the only way to be relevant is to behave well they will.

I tell my son, if they bully you laugh at them and walk off. Never let them see they've hurt you and they'll get bored. It may not address the problem of the bully going off and bullying someone else, but it addresses the problem for my son. The larger problem of the bully is a harder one.

I think your taking too much a simplistic view about a bully's motives. In order to behave like this it is a little more than attention seeking that is wrong. These people are damaged.

Also the biggest fuel for Bullies is strength in numbers so to counteract this the victim needs enough people to disapprove of this in their favour.

My 8 year old niece was being excluded in school recently and she was very off with us at home. It got so bad my sister sent her to a therapist. She was being excluded by one of the girls who we thought she was friends with and was told by the therapist that in order to deal with it she needed to let the bully know that she was aware of the bullies behaviour toward her. The bully ran off crying and since then the whole dynamic has changed for the better. They are now great friends.

Also the therapist told my niece that the reason the bully is the way she is is down to a certain great insecurity in her home and there could be alot of truth in that as her mother suffers bouts of depression

DramaQuee

I'm fed up with this 'children don't mean to do it' attitude, or 'it's a cry for help'. These kids know what they're doing. The rotten kids in my own class, still have pretty much the same personalities. Ever go to a school re-union? Within half an hour, the same people are in their clicks, and everyone reacts like they last did when in that grouping.

Some people are rough a**holes. There always have been rough, hard hearted people. Generations of ruthless people, bred families of inconsiderate a**holes, occasionally there will be exceptions in these families, but they are tougher, less refined- with or without money.

You can see it in conflict, some people would like to find out the problem, analyse it, others want to end it immediately - they have no ability to cope with the stress, but SOME people thrive on contention, getting the upper hand and being bullies. They want the other to kowtow to them, they don't care about wrong or right, just the fact that they call the shots. Peace in the home? irrelevant, honesty - disposable, any type of learning from the whole situation - forget it, this is crude survival and domination.

In the animal kingdom you see it, and here it is called survival of the toughest. So those with strong base desires and undeveloped brains are more likely to react in this crude grab all, push others down, me first attitude. You even see it in the duck pond, some ducks bite and push the others away so they get the bread, boy do I enjoy making sure these pushy gets don't get any of my bread

DramaQuee wrote: »

I'm fed up with this 'children don't mean to do it' attitude, or 'it's a cry for help'. These kids know what they're doing. The rotten kids in my own class, still have pretty much the same personalities. Ever go to a school re-union? Within half an hour, the same people are in their clicks, and everyone reacts like they last did when in that grouping.

Some people are rough a**holes. There always have been rough, hard hearted people. Generations of ruthless people, bred families of inconsiderate a**holes, occasionally there will be exceptions in these families, but they are tougher, less refined- with or without money.

You can see it in conflict, some people would like to find out the problem, analyse it, others want to end it immediately - they have no ability to cope with the stress, but SOME people thrive on contention, getting the upper hand and being bullies. They want the other to kowtow to them, they don't care about wrong or right, just the fact that they call the shots. Peace in the home? irrelevant, honesty - disposable, any type of learning from the whole situation - forget it, this is crude survival and domination.

In the animal kingdom you see it, and here it is called survival of the toughest. So those with strong base desires and undeveloped brains are more likely to react in this crude grab all, push others down, me first attitude. You even see it in the duck pond, some ducks bite and push the others away so they get the bread, boy do I enjoy making sure these pushy gets don't get any of my bread

spot on , good old fashioned common sense there

no great mystery to why some people bully , they do it cause they like it , this modern pc liberal narrative does more harm than good and actually lets the bullys of the hook completley , the attitude is amoral

difference between bullying btw and being tough , toughest guy i went to school with and still know wasnt a bully yet he could beat anyone in a fight , strong as three men yet wouldnt verbally hurt anyone

Deleted User wrote: »

I think your taking too much a simplistic view about a bully's motives. In order to behave like this it is a little more than attention seeking that is wrong. These people are damaged.

Also the biggest fuel for Bullies is strength in numbers so to counteract this the victim needs enough people to disapprove of this in their favour.

My 8 year old niece was being excluded in school recently and she was very off with us at home. It got so bad my sister sent her to a therapist. She was being excluded by one of the girls who we thought she was friends with and was told by the therapist that in order to deal with it she needed to let the bully know that she was aware of the bullies behaviour toward her. The bully ran off crying and since then the whole dynamic has changed for the better. They are now great friends. Also the therapist told my niece that the reason the bully is the way she is is down to a certain great insecurity in her home and there could be alot of truth in that as her mother suffers bouts of depression

But that's it exactly - your (very brave) niece took control of the situation and the bully had to decide whether to become irrelevant (continue the bullying behaviour) or relevant (change the behaviour). THe bonus was the bully was a good kid and actually felt guilt!

leggo wrote: »

I was a bully in school. I'm doing a lot of work in helping with anti-bullying research these days, and spreading awareness in what actually helps the bullying stop (which is all we want, ultimately). What I'm finding is that people react with their emotions in coming up with their opinions and suggestions which, while understandable, isn't necessarily helpful or constructive.

During the week, TheJournal.ie were kind enough to publish a column that I wrote on the subject. Have a read if you like, I think some might find the results of what stopped the bullying interesting.

Most recently, I have been working with anti-bullying workshops in secondary schools. There I have found that the kids actually seem to respond to what we're suggesting. Whether it pays off in the long-term or not is yet to be seen, but we'll see. It's certainly a new approach. And everything that has been tried in the past certainly hasn't worked; if anything, things have gotten worse.

What will help this problem go away is to understand why it happens to begin with. I also feel that educating people while young will change their behaviour growing older. I don't think legislation will work. Schools and workplaces implementing effective policies that consider the nature of bullying, then enacting them, will.

This is exactly what we need, people who understand it from all sides. Well done, and the guilt you feel is because you are a decent person.

gozunda

leggo wrote: »

...
Most recently, I have been working with anti-bullying workshops in secondary schools. There I have found that the kids actually seem to respond to what we're suggesting. Whether it pays off in the long-term or not is yet to be seen, but we'll see. It's certainly a new approach. And everything that has been tried in the past certainly hasn't worked; if anything, things have gotten worse.

What will help this problem go away is to understand why it happens to begin with. I also feel that educating people while young will change their behaviour growing older. I don't think legislation will work. Schools and workplaces implementing effective policies that consider the nature of bullying, then enacting them, will.

Well done on bringing Bullying behavior out in the open however
like physical assault - bullying / physiological assault is always going to be with us

We can of course use education to help educate the young that bullying is not acceptable behavior but that alone will not stop it happening and it does not provide for a deterrent against those who choose to bully irrespective of what they have been taught

Adults, chuldren and teenagers all engage in bullying behaviour and harm others doing so.

Its this that requires legislation so that the victims of such behavior have some form of redress where they have been bullied and protection against the continuation of such bullying

Many employers especially are the least likely to deal with bullying as it is of en easier for them to pretend that it does not happen. Current employment legislation does not allow the actual perpetrator to be reprimanded or prosecuted and instead places a near impossible onus on the victim to fight for their rights through a legal minefield

I believe in the role of education but I also believe that bullying must be assigned as an offense against the person where such behavior has caused actual harm

leggo wrote: »

I was a bully in school. I'm doing a lot of work in helping with anti-bullying research these days, and spreading awareness in what actually helps the bullying stop (which is all we want, ultimately). What I'm finding is that people react with their emotions in coming up with their opinions and suggestions which, while understandable, isn't necessarily helpful or constructive.

During the week, TheJournal.ie were kind enough to publish a column that I wrote on the subject. Have a read if you like, I think some might find the results of what stopped the bullying interesting.

Most recently, I have been working with anti-bullying workshops in secondary schools. There I have found that the kids actually seem to respond to what we're suggesting. Whether it pays off in the long-term or not is yet to be seen, but we'll see. It's certainly a new approach. And everything that has been tried in the past certainly hasn't worked; if anything, things have gotten worse.

What will help this problem go away is to understand why it happens to begin with. I also feel that educating people while young will change their behaviour growing older. I don't think legislation will work. Schools and workplaces implementing effective policies that consider the nature of bullying, then enacting them, will.

Fair play. It proves that attitudes can change with the right education on the matter. I think the perpetrators, the victims and the supervisors all need to be continuously trained and it is especially important that we have the right people in the middle on this one. My belief is that bullies in most cases ARE NOT AWARE of the level of bullying they are inflicting on others and if anything they wouldnt even classify their behaviour as bullying if they gave a wholehearted honest opinion on the matter. They are in denial

Of course its an ongoing battle as youngsters or even adults will bring home problems into school/work and no one quite knows what goes on inside four walls so it has to be dealt with in the aftermath as opposed to prevention being better than cure.

Deleted User wrote: »

Fair play. It proves that attitudes can change with the right education on the matter. I think the perpetrators, the victims and the supervisors all need to be continuously trained and it is especially important that we have the right people in the middle on this one. My belief is that bullies in most cases ARE NOT AWARE of the level of bullying they are inflicting on others and if anything they wouldnt even classify their behaviour as bullying if they gave a wholehearted honest opinion on the matter. They are in denial

Of course its an ongoing battle as youngsters or even adults will bring home problems into school/work and no one quite knows what goes on inside four walls so it has to be dealt with in the aftermath as opposed to prevention being better than cure.

And that the stigma of victimhood is removed.

mirekb wrote: »

But that's it exactly - your (very brave) niece took control of the situation and the bully had to decide whether to become irrelevant (continue the bullying behaviour) or relevant (change the behaviour). THe bonus was the bully was a good kid and actually felt guilt!

Everyone has a good side and a bad side. She just realised it her behaviour where perhaps many others wouldn't have done so as quick.