Bullying is not just a kid’s sport—witness the recent presidential campaign in the United States! Anyone, of any age, can be the recipient of bullying. Indeed, whole groups of people can be bullied—harassed, persecuted, tormented, browbeaten. Bullying is a form of violence that transcends geographic, racial, ethnic, gender, and economic borders, and when we don’t stop it in its inception, it only grows more virulent. How many of us are unwilling to turn a blind eye to bullying and summon the moral courage to take a stand against it?
While I never witnessed true bullying in school, I was the recipient of it in the workplace when I filed a successful class action suit against an employer for discriminatory labor practices. Some union members were fearful of its impact on their seniority status and pursued a campaign of terror tactics toward me in retaliation. Sometimes I dealt with it well, other times I didn’t, but most importantly, I never indulged any hatred toward those who sought to injure me. As I did prayerful work for myself, I included my tormentors; I knew that Love was the only antidote against hate. Eventually, I was lifted out of the situation and found a new, exciting and more lucrative career in the computer industry.
I was an adult when I experienced bullying and had fortunately developed emotional and spiritual resources with which to deal with the situation. But many who face the pain and humiliation of bullying are children—according to the The BULLY Project, over 13,000,000 children will be bullied this year. This form of abuse can seriously damage the spirit of these innocents and cause lasting scars. It is no coincidence that many perpetrators of crime, including those involved in school shootings, have been abused or bullied and feel like outcasts detached from society.
Are you familiar with The BULLY Project? I signed up to be an Advocate of the campaign and hope many readers will do the same. Please take a few minutes to watch the video below. http://www.thebullyproject.com/about_the_bully_project
While I never witnessed true bullying in school, I was the recipient of it in the workplace when I filed a successful class action suit against an employer for discriminatory labor practices. Some union members were fearful of its impact on their seniority status and pursued a campaign of terror tactics toward me in retaliation. Sometimes I dealt with it well, other times I didn’t, but most importantly, I never indulged any hatred toward those who sought to injure me. As I did prayerful work for myself, I included my tormentors; I knew that Love was the only antidote against hate. Eventually, I was lifted out of the situation and found a new, exciting and more lucrative career in the computer industry.
I was an adult when I experienced bullying and had fortunately developed emotional and spiritual resources with which to deal with the situation. But many who face the pain and humiliation of bullying are children—according to the The BULLY Project, over 13,000,000 children will be bullied this year. This form of abuse can seriously damage the spirit of these innocents and cause lasting scars. It is no coincidence that many perpetrators of crime, including those involved in school shootings, have been abused or bullied and feel like outcasts detached from society.
Are you familiar with The BULLY Project? I signed up to be an Advocate of the campaign and hope many readers will do the same. Please take a few minutes to watch the video below. http://www.thebullyproject.com/about_the_bully_project
The BULLY Project is the social action campaign inspired by the award-winning film “BULLY.” It has sparked a national movement to stop bullying that is transforming kids’ lives and changing a culture of bullying into one of empathy and action. The power of the group’s work lies in the participation of individuals like you and me and the remarkable list of partners who have gathered to collectively work to create safe, caring, and respectful schools and communities. The video below shows how one school got involved.
Whether or not we have children or grandchildren of school age, we all must do what we can to promote awareness of important outreach campaigns like The BULLY Project. And needless to say, the home is where we first must teach love and kindness toward others—by our words and by our own actions. It is imperative to impress on our children that the second commandment articulated by Jesus to “Love your neighbor as yourself,” is absolute, and the only true path to happiness and peace.
Please take a few minutes to watch the two short videos included here. And never hesitate to speak up and call out any form of bullying that raises its ugly head—silence is acquiesence!
