Labor & Employment Law

Bullying and Cyber-Bullying - Not Just in Schools

By Michael Fitzgibbon

Bullying, in any form and anywhere, is, frankly, cowardly and disgusting.  Almost daily we hear about the effects of being "bullied" and with the Internet we now have cyber-bullying under the guise of anonymity.

We may believe that bullying and cyber-bullying are somehow confined to a school setting because that's typically where the news reports arise.  There's an article in the Globe and Mail called What to do about cyber bullies? Get real, for a start.  It's a strong article that starts off with tough things to read (whether or not you're a parent):

A ninth grader in Calgary admits he has thought about killing himself.

The anonymity of his online bully is "killer," he says. "It could have been my best friend for all I know."

A 19-year-old near Ottawa says a girl started rumours about her online and called her "every name in the book."

Her tormentor then went after her little sister, encouraging her to slit her wrists.

This is disturbing stuff that no one should have to experience.

The article goes on to suggest that the online bullies are not the ones you might suspect - "Some kids who bully online are not the ones who would bully face-to-face." according to Dr. Mishna the author of a study discussed in the article.   

There's absolutely no reason to think that this is just a "school" issue, though there may be different considerations when the bully or the target of the "bully" is, say, 12 years old. 

This is an everyone and everywhere issue, and does carry over into the workplace in overt and not so obvious ways.  Irrespective of the form or context, bullying must be dealt with directly.

Full post as published by Thoughts from a Management Lawyer on May 16, 2008 (boomark / email).