Bullying is evolving, but how do we stop it?
Also.. one year old family pet Garfield put to sleep following shocking and unimaginable cruelty
Friday’s newsletter broached the subject of cyberbullying. Gone are the days when bullying behaviors were left in the schoolyard and home was a place of solace. The old ‘sticks and stones’ adage offers little comfort to the youth of today as cruel words, videos and photos follow them home and permeate their social media accounts in comments, direct messages, tags and shares.
As we saw last year, police received over 80 complaints after staff and pupils of a school in Armagh were humiliated via a series of fake TikTok profiles.
Words carry weight, and if used with malicious intent, can pack as good of a punch as a fist. Trouble is, the scars they leave are much less visible.
Children and adults alike can become victims of bullying, and victims often suffer from the long-lasting mental and emotional effects of the abuse they endure.
Bullying is still very much a 21st century problem. It’s just evolving. And whilst it does still tend to largely affect our children and adolescents, it’s not confined to our school years. Three months ago we spoke to two former employees of Armagh’s DVA test centre who spoke of a ‘toxic bullying’ workplace environment.
Thanks to legislative changes in 2021, schools now have a legal duty to document all acts of ‘bullying behaviours’ as well as those who have reported having experienced ‘bullying behaviours’. The ultimate aim of which is to develop and implement a preventative Anti-Bullying Policy to ‘respond, resolve and restore wellbeing of those involved.’
However, these measures often only come into effect once bullying behaviours have already taken place. Some may argue that the damage has already been done.
So in a preventative sense - are we doing enough to police our children online, are we doing enough to teach them empathy and tolerance? Or is this something our schools and workplaces should take a stronger stance on?
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Previous editions:
The mask of anonymity! Friend or foe?
Bring back the students! How could Armagh be best served going forward?