Bullying

Bullying in the workplace is so common and accepted that women don't stand a chance. I remember a company accountant years ago who literally screamed at me and any other young woman he thought was vulnerable every time he came to the office to do an audit. And no one, owner, manager, supervisor, did anything to stop him. He was a tyrant and he knew he could act out in this particular office. Today I would report him to the CA association but even now, I doubt they would do anything about it. Incidentally, these men would abuse any girl except management's secretaries. It was understood that they belonged to their boss and had some protection from other men--not from her boss.

There was also the common attitude that women should be grateful for the job. We were, after all, just women, of the lower order, and quite disposable. So we owed the employer, payment was due, probably in his office after he closed the door.

But, people who bully children bother me more than adults. No child should be afraid to go to school in this country and I think it's up to the adults in charge to take the responsibility to get to the source, which they are usually reluctant to do.

Thing is, all bullies are cowards. No bully would tackle anyone they thought had an atom more power than they had and they are very skilled at sniffing out the vulnerable. (Think of Ghomeshi). But something is not going well in the bully's life or he or she would not have the drive to abuse someone, perhaps thinking he can dump his problem on them and get rid of it. Of course, that will never happen.

We hear about the victim but the bully never gets exposed and goes free to do it again. If parents and principles took the initiative to track him down and try to find the source of his problem they would do more good than denying the responsibility, calling it  a right of passage, a tradition, normal, and running away themselves schools could look forward to being a safe place for kids.

It's a big problem, bigger than we are admitting, and it has been allowed to thrive and grow with each generation. One can only hope that 'this time' the earth will move and change will come.
She said.