Bullying ( Disability Forum Discussion)

@CaringBrit

'what do you think are some steps society can take to prevent bullying in our schools, work place, place park, supermarket, etc'

Better training for teachers, managers, customer service, etc couldn't hurt. Too often those in authority are setting a bad example by themselves participating in bullying others.

@CaringBrit

Maybe in addition to training for those in leadership positions, there needs to be more readily available training for everyone on self-esteem, assertiveness, how to deal with bullies, self-defense, etc. This way people might feel assertive enough to deal with a bully should they encounter one, or how to recover from such an episode.

@CaringBrit

Some victims of bullying may want to take their revenge out on those persons who bullied them or others, do you think they should? Explain your answer.

I would say that I promote self-defense, but don't think the victims of bullying should exact "revenge" on their attackers. Depending on the situation, there may be actions that can be taken after an incident which can help the bullied person to feel empowered. Of course this depends on whether the person feels safe (physically, or otherwise) and if they have support, should they feel that they need it. I have found that when confronted, most bullies back down, but this isn't always possible. There might be ways to report the behaviour to have it dealt with, such as utitlizing labour laws, Human Resources harassment complaints, filing criminal charges...or sending a kid to the principal's office. I think whatever action can be legally and safely taken to ensure that the bully doesn't continue the behaviour, or find new victims, should be pursued.

There is something called "lateral violence" where the victims of abuse go on to abuse others - not always physically as the "violence" might imply. There is a careful line to walk sometimes between vigilante and engaging in this kind of behaviour.

@CaringBrit
Some tips I would give to someone who is a victim of bullying:

- Try to ensure your safety at all times...this might involve avoiding being alone with the bully
- Find out if there is someone they could talk to / go to for support at their school or company and suggest they do that
- Discuss ways to handle the bully when confronted with them (ways to de-escalate a confrontation, etc.)
- Suggest counselling (they will probably need it)
- Suggest some sort of assertiveness/self-esteem building training. Some places have anti-bullying training workshops. A lot of people aren't lucky enough to have this kind of support though.
- Calling in a mediator of some kind might also be helpful.

@purpleHeart16 its fine what topic should we do next i posted 5 choices

@Lolowise475 which question were you answering here ?