Bullying at the Workplace

Bullying in the workplace is rife. One study* suggests about 1 in 4 people are victims of bullying at their work at sometime in their lives and that 1 in 12 are bullied on a regular basis. Bullying is so commonplace in our work environments that it has become ‘normalised’. We are so familiar with it that we unconsciously allow it, accept and, for many, take part in it. Perhaps we learned this in school. We have simply transferred the ‘social... Read More

Bravado and threatening behaviour

Bravado and threatening behaviour Yesterday, I was stood between 2 people threatening to kill each other. One had accidentally hit the other by letting go of a spring loaded barrier (the kind used for guiding people in queues). The confrontation started with “Watch what you’re doing!” and escalated very quickly to “I’m going to destroy you!” Because we were standing in a queue, they were no more than arms length apart and, with me standing... Read More

Why I like martial arts

Firstly, I’m not a martial artist. Also, I don’t think that children need martial arts training to stop the bullies. So why do I like it? Martial arts training almost always develops good emotional skills. With a good instructor you learn discipline, respect, confidence and self esteem. The physical skills don’t matter much as far as bullying is concerned. I actually disapprove of Dads who send their kids to martial arts classes... Read More

Respect Me Annual Conference

Today I attended Respect Me’s annual conference. I thought it was really good. They had lots of inspirational ideas and a great overall focus. The main theme was on children’s rights. Children have the right to an education and have the right to be protected from harm within schools. Additionally, they have the right to know what their rights are. I like this focus. I’m all for empowering children. When implemented well, it empowers... Read More

Bullying Advice for Parents

It can be incredibly frustrating being a parent of a child who is being bullied. Most parents would do anything to protect their children from being deliberately harmed by others but often they can feel powerless to help. It can be especially frustrating when you know your child is being bullied but they won’t tell you about it. Or if they do, they will give a vague description of what is going on, likely missing out the very details you want... Read More

How to help your child

It can be incredibly frustrating being a parent of a child who is being bullied. Most parents would do anything to protect their children from being deliberately harmed by others but often they can feel powerless to help. It can be especially frustrating when you know your child is being bullied but they won’t tell you about it. Or if they do, they will give a vague description of what is going on, likely missing out the very details you want... Read More

How to Deal With Bullying

There are many ways of dealing with bullying. Some are more effective than others but the most important thing to appreciate is that every bullying situation is different. What will work well in one situation may well make things worse in another. Because each bullying situation is unique, you need to be flexible. Bullies are usually very flexible themselves. They have to figure out which techniques will hurt you the most and which ones will get the... Read More

Bullying Advice

Every bullying situation is different. Bullies have a knack of finding out what buttons to press to get the reactions they want from you. So you have to be adaptable. Use the following general ideas by adapting them to suit your situation. Realise that bullying is ALWAYS ABOUT THE BULLY. I can´t stress this enough. People bully because they get something out of it. Sometimes it´s a feeling of control, significance, power or even inclusion. If they... Read More

Bullying is Subjective

What are your definitions of bullying? Are those definitions useful to you? One of the major problem schools have in dealing with bullying is in how they define it. It’s not just a paper exercise in thinking up labels, it makes a massive difference as to whether the organisation takes action as result of an incident or not. If you have a child who is being bullied at school, the school will only help them if the teachers believe that whatever has... Read More