Bullying

MypinchofItaly

MypinchofItaly

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Mod.Edit: The following few posts have been moved from another thread to form a new topic.

Lately, I do hear a lot of talk about bullying (mostly at school) on TV, in the newspapers, there are television programs in which this topic is always alive and rather debated, with advice and opinions worthy of attention and respect especially towards to children / adolescents. Even if some I find a little too easy, example (talk with an adult and ask the parents) .. Give me the benefit of the doubt but I'd be curious to know your opinion as well.
I was also wondering: is bullying an evolution (if evolution can be called) of mobbing at work? Obviously with the necessary exceptions, context, but, is this the exact reverse of the other's coin? What do you think?
 
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Bullying is an interesting topic. It is certainly getting more press these days and is more 'visible' than it used to be because of social media. But it has always happened. I was badly bullied at school but perhaps not as much as my partner, who was literally beaten up on many occasions as a child. It used to be just accepted as the norm, I think and generally we didn't discuss it. A little like sexual harassment in the workplace - which has recently been in the press, it was accepted as 'something you had to put up with'. Thankfully, attitudes have changed.
 
morning glory said:
OK - its not something I recognised.
Click to expand...

In the sense that you never heard the word or ever had to do? (directly or indirectly)
I unfortunately have seen it done against some colleagues (especially women) ... how angry I was. I never lent myself to this kind of thing. Rather dismissal of a person, but to make her die slowly of tedium and humiliation is a horrendous thing.
 
MypinchofItaly said:
In the sense that you never heard the word or ever had to do? (directly or indirectly)
Click to expand...
'mobbed' in the UK would mean a crowd of people collecting together around someone. So, a pop star could be mobbed by fans, for example. This wouldn't mean the star was being bullied. 'Mobbing' is not really a term that would often be used. I am saying this without reference to my dictionary. @Duck59 is our star word expert here. I'll look up the words.
 
morning glory said:
'mobbed' in the UK would mean a crowd of people collecting together around someone. So, a pop star could be mobbed by fans, for example. This wouldn't mean the star was being bullied. 'Mobbing' is not really a term that would often be used. I am saying this without reference to my dictionary. @Duck59 is our star word expert here. I'll look up the words.
Click to expand...

I think it was taken as a reference to the fact that so many people around one, but in a very negative sense. In fact it is what happens: all the colleagues (including leaders) who in the daily working reality surround the person to the negativity, to make him feel bad with attitudes of exclusion.
 
MypinchofItaly said:
I think it was taken as a reference to the fact that so many people around one, but in a very negative sense. In fact it is what happens: all the colleagues (including leaders) who in the daily working reality surround the person to the negativity, to make him feel bad with attitudes of exclusion.
Click to expand...

Understood.
 
Mobbing is a term that I would associate with smaller birds trying to chase away a larger and predatory bird or a group of birds defending their nests, so in this sense it's a defensive act, almost the opposite to what we're talking about here .
 
To get back to the OP - bullying has always gone on and no amount of 'modern' psychology will stop it. To believe in a rose tint ideal of all children being kind and caring little people is both naive and ridiculous. It is only a few thousand years since we swung down from the trees when the weakest would always be found out and expendable - to expect a thin veneer of civilization the wipe away such a memory is a fantasy. I feel that some of the 'cures' suggested by the experts as mentioned are just simplistic trash the chief benefit of which is that they keep them on the gravy train. Too much is made of the problem in the media and children pick up on adult fears. As mentioned it is on TV in newspapers, magazines ETC ETC - of course children are afraid of being bullied - of course they are confused as to what to do - they see it every day so it MUST be true - what would once have been just a 'kid they don't like' now becomes a demon from hell,and of course there are experts crawling out of every corner with different theories and cures
 
I think social media has pushed "bullying" to a new level. In the US young people have committed suicide as a result of social media bullying. In several cases the bullies have faced criminal prosecutions. SERIOUSLY sick stuff!

GS faced bullying in Middle School. He never told his parents about it. They found out from a third party. GS begged them not to do anything. He feared repercussions - more bullying. DIL teaches in the same school system. She had a private discussion with the school Principal. Teachers and staff were put on alert. Within a couple of days they caught the bullies "Red Handed". Three were suspended. One was expelled - he put his hands on GS. A very scary situation.
 
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