Lunch Time Poll on Bullying

[shadowkat]

This is a quick poll adjacent to my last post on bullying. Bullying in case there is confusion is defined as teasing, verbal or physical in nature, in which the victim is made to feel shame, fear, pain, insecure, or humiliation. It includes but is not limited to - being called names, having insects put in your food or textbooks, or other creatures, poked fun at, etc. (It is not just being hit or pummeled physically. Mental and emotional bullying is as bad as physical bullying, and leaves scars, they just aren't always quite so visible.) [ETC: Bullying includes teasing, excluding in a way that is obvious - ie four people in a class, three group together and whisper about the fourth while they are there, and it can be by siblings or teachers or fellow students or parents.]

(Sort of hope people will respond. I hate doing polls for this reason. It's not like a post - if no one responds, no big. But polls...sigh. )

[Poll #1631388]

Comments

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I had the most difficulty answering the one about co-workers. I've never been called names or humiliated or the like, but I had two separate male-cowokers who self-appointed themselves 'boss of me'. One insisting that I was his employee and do his work for him(until I went to my actual bosses and threatened to quit (reminding them that I'm an architect not a mechanical engineer and what in the hell was I doing designing the entire mechanical system for a high school anyway?), thereby receiving assurances that I never had to work with that co-worker again. I did, but it was a couple of years later. This particular co-worker also believed he had been repeatedly abducted by aliens.) and another one who told me directly to my face that 'women were put on earth to serve men', whereupon I and a female intern immediately lodged a complaint with bosses that, on top of complaints several clients had lodged got him fired (and whereupon I had learned that waaaaaayyyy back before he was hired there had been a placement/personality test that had listed him as "highly likely to abuse co-workers" which only led me to ask, why in the frell was he hired in the first place? I quit that job a few weeks later.

I only remember one instance of bullying in early childhood and it was just for one day (my mom had a fit and met with teacher/principal. It was second grade so I have no idea what went on). The rest of school was by no means perfect, but I don't think anything would rise to the point that I would call it 'bullying' as opposed to the normal give and take and smartassing between kids. (Well, except for a high-school-social-politics things, but nothing that I'd term 'bullying' per se).

But I also grew up in a town that had less than 5000 inhabitants with my graduating class only having 127 people. Everyone knew everyone's family, so I think that too most likely had influence.).