jakorte's blog

Freedom from Bullies Week is October 17 – 23, 2010!
No, I’m not kidding, and no this isn’t a new recognitive.

An online poll from my news home page asked the following sidebar question: Has bullying become worse or is media just engaging in the problem dujour frenzy?

Yes, and yes. There have always been bullies but intimidation methods were more juvenile, and sometimes vague enough to make us question if we were under attack at all.

Growing up, my parent’s take on bullying was this: Sticks and stones may break your bones but names can never hurt you. I took this to heart and used it frequently as a retaliative retort to frequent verbal bully teasing about my religion, my weight, stuttering, and a mentally handicapped sibling.

Standing up for yourself was another nugget of wisdom passed on to whiny students by teachers and school counselors– only you’d better be sure you can handle the results on your own if you did.

Back then, ink markers on bathroom walls and lockers were how word was spread. Annoying, juvenile and doubt-worthy the impact was usually short-lived.

I’ve significantly bullied a bully once or twice. Maybe more but only two episodes come to mind. I defended one of my brothers once when some idiot decided to book check him in the halls. I rushed the jock and landed a good heal kick right in the back of his knee causing a nice buckle and fall. HE lloked straight at me, stunned, and then continued his searching sweep for the culprit. I skirted around the incident unscathed. Yes, I was standing right there, the closest one to the action, but no one suspected shy me.

Once a cheerleader at my new high school decided it would be fun to slam my locker door shut while my head was still in it searching for a book. Didn’t take kindly to that either, so I whipped around blindly and threw one punch. I suppose it could be categorized as successful because I caught the side of her head and broke her glasses.

There weren’t security cameras in our school hallways, and there wasn’t a flurry of electronics avail for common use. Nowadays such things as digital cameras, phone cameras, webcam, and video can document arguments, spread rumors or stop rumors in their tracks. They also they provide “evidence” of a person’s weakness – real or not, staged or otherwise. Bullying is a convenient but lame word for the recent string of well publicized atrocities that invaded others’ private lives.

If there’s a national Freedom from Bullies Week then it seems we have a problem that goes beyond grade school teasing, high school false hierarchy formation and has moved undoubtedbly into the workplace. I know. I’ve seen it, and so have you. I don’t have an answer but I do have a starting place.

I don't see where it matters if bullying has increased or not. What I do see matters is how we choose to react right now, and in the future.

Here’s a pretty little idea that packs a mean triple wallop of respect, compassion, and kindness:
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

In this issue: Bully, Boullion, Surrounding Yourself With The Right People.

Now posted; Facebook Gems, September 2010.