Bullying

All of the interest and emphasis on bullying and anti-bullying activities is interesting to say the least. I certainly think these efforts are worthwhile and needed. Many of us or people we know have experienced some form of bullying - in school, in the workplace, in other social settings or by entities that we have to deal with on some sort of regular basis.

But here's what I find most interesting. We find ourselves needing to put all sorts of resources into anti-bullying activities for young people so that they end up with a positive view of themselves and others and, it is our hope, stop a bad behavior. In the meantime, they watch adults participate in bullying behavior on a regular basis - at home, on the news, in the movies, on tv shows, at the mall, etc. Most of what they see is done by adults, written by adults or in some cases encouraged by adults. It extends to our political parties and contests and how the news media is treated and how it treats subjects of stories. It extends to how government agencies treats citizens. It extends to foreign policy and religion. The things that are said and done in the name of gods and nations include substantial bullying.

The bottom line is that bullying is pretty well embedded in mankind's nature for whatever reason. It doesn't mean we shouldn't support or invest in anti-bullying efforts but we should certainly begin to recognize how big the problem is and how it is engrained in society as a whole. Kids are smart. They'll see it even if we don't.