Have anti-bullying policies gone too far?

By Gordon Cairns
Community contribution / August 21, 2017

My son took me by surprise the other day when he asked me about the times when I was bullied at school.

I had previously told him about the name calling and insults inflicted on me when I was a pupil, but ...

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Martin

8 years ago

Hi and agreed Catherine, and certainly consistent with my assertion that I have no issue with evaluating policy. However from my perspective the methods used to construct argument or debate are important, especially in such an important area. Whilst I respect the intent of the author, I have some concerns. The piece begins with the author contrasting his own experiences in relation to his son’s and the differing perspectives on what constitutes bullying. He appears to question the validity of his son’s assertion that the author’s experiences should not have been allowed to happen, not by exploring that difference or the possible validity of his son’s understanding, but by moving into the main content of the piece which discusses concerns with overzealous anti bullying policy. Later he introduces the emergence of the “snowflake” generation. How is his own experience in relation to that of his son relevant to any ensuing debate on overzealous policy, other than to indicate his own frame of reference for this discussion? He points to articles that make several statements about the attitudes of the current generation and includes the term “oversensitivity” in young people. The author clearly states he has a different perspective, but I ask what the result of that perspective is. For me, this approach adds a nuance to the article that does not simply call for a debate around bullying policy. It appears to present information from a particular perspective and is why it elicited my response. I'm not sure why the term “trauma” is emotive in this case, and any more emotive than some of the content in the piece. Bullying and other forms of power plays have caused great emotional distress and are still being discussed as rife in the workplace here in Australia (in the 21st Century!?). We may even need to define what we mean by bullying and other forms of interaction in order to address some of the concerns expressed in articles cited in the piece. For example "put down" humour is often seen to be OK and those who have issues with it seen to be "oversensitive". Yet it can clearly be a power play used by some to undermine the confidence of others. I appreciate that there are issues from so many perspectives including political correctness gone mad but this only supports my call for caution or awareness of any possible experiential bias. Thanks for your response and discussion. Cheers.

Gordon Cairns

Hi Martin, I never meant to suggest that being bullied makes you more resilient. I do wonder though if anti-bullying policies have had an affect on the generation who were brought up under them, making some of them less able to deal with life's knocks. I certainly don't ascribe to the view that 'a little bit of bullying is good for resilience' and am sorry if my piece suggested that.

Catherine Berry

It is healthy to pause, take stock and assess any policy. Martin, I don't think that the author is suggesting that trauma (a particularly emotive word) or being exposed to bullying is essential to developing resilience. I do think that the author is keen to promote discussion and hear from the teachers and Head teachers who are responsible for student welfare. Undoubtedly, this is a complex issue, but a call to educators to examine the effect and language of their school's anti-bullying policies is worthwhile.

I don't question the need to assess the impact of policies, however for me, this article does not logically address the issues. Whilst it is noted that aspects of "compliance" do go too far, resilience is not necessarily, even though for some it may be, built by exposure to trauma. The links made between loss of resilience, anti bullying initiatives and the warnings given before lectures are also debatable. I question the assertion that a little bit of bullying is good for resilience and would like to know how instability and insecurity in the modern world may be undermining resilience - mental health issues are rapidly increasing and we may need to question other aspects of Western Cultural Capital. Surely there are many more factors that are affecting resilience than this article suggests. We should read thorough research on this topic rather than subscribing to any superficial conjecture.

Have anti-bullying policies gone too far?

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