29th August 2013, 02:53 PM
Jack Wrote:A world where bullying is dealt with by accusation, suspension, investigation in closed rooms.So do you see mediation as the initial way forward when dealing with an accusation of bullying? Some of the examples being expressed in this thread hardly seem condusive to being discussed away and are all too easily understood as power-based. I can see that some kind of discussion-based approach would quickly lead to the bully gaining the upper hand. That's what they do. If a bully calls me a b***h and I call him a b*****d in return, I'm the one who will end up with a formal warning. It's no longer the case that you can "stand up for yourself". Bullies know how to work a system to their advantage.
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These two worlds can be incompatible. But can be reconciled through discussion and understanding.
Don't get me wrong - I'm a woman who did 20+ years' hard-time in IT, which is a total sausage-fest and could show archaeology a few things about sex and gender-based bullying and discrimination. I survived that quite comfortably. But bullies are bullies and there's no reconciling with them. People who bully maliciously need to be dealt with formally and appropriately, or they assume they can get away with more and it escalates. Full-on bullying is rarely a bit of harmless banter or the inappropriate use of language.