Today is the first in Australia's new annual community campaign to address bullying and the focus for this year is bystander behaviour.
What does that mean?
It might seem like bullying concerns only the individual under attack but bullying involves us all. Bullying negatively impacts on everyone's environment, standing by and doing nothing effectively makes us bullies by association. We all have a role to play in ending bullying, a role that is more important than ever now that bullying can reach right into the victim's home via SMS, email and Facebook.
While much of the focus is on bullying at school, let's not forget that workplace bullying is also on the increase. A fact that is reflected in the number of clients with workplace bullying issues that I have seen in the past year. For a reminder on workplace bullying, see my earlier post.
Resources
Bullying? No Way! web site created by Australian educational communities
Parent tool kits and videos with leading child and adolescent psychologist Dr. Michael Carr-Gregg
Managing bullying at work, APS article
Workplace bullying, APS article
