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 May Column: The subject of bullying should concern everyone by Larry Lecouter
May 8th, 2012
It is a great concern that a troubling number of unthinking adults, whether in positions of authority or otherwise, react to the tragic consequences of bullying in rather blithe terms, the most facile and condemning among them, is that bullying is a normal condition of life.
To say being harassed and hectored, by word or by deed, is a rite of passage for every child is to dismiss and disregard the traumas bullying can inflict upon its helpless victims. There is nothing normal about the deep psychic wounds inflicted by individuals or groups who take a sadistic pleasure in the harming of others, and those wounds can and do get carried over into adult life, sometimes with lamentable results.
With the advent of feel-good and self-satisfied causes to address bullying carried out in communities and their schools such as the pink-shirt campaigns, they do very little if any real good; by their very nature they pay facile lip-service to a very serious social concern and an ever-increasing problem for everyone involved.
If stern fingers are to be pointed and justifiable blame is to be leveled, it must be be put squarely on the shoulders of the parents of these assorted packs of anti-social malcontents. The parents are ultimately the authors, actors and audiences of the spectacles that play day in and day out in schools all across the globe and in particular in North America, due in the main to their misguided belief that any authority, in school or otherwise, should play a major role in the forming and shaping of their offspring, and that true parental input should be kept at a bare minimum. It is through unwitting or quite willful neglect that bullies are set loose in society and that hardly any substantial punishments are being carried out to them for their crimes is an indicator that authorities have so far been quite lax.
The tragic story of Phoebe Prince, the young Irish teen who immigrated to America and had committed suicide because of bullying, should be a reminder of the cost of casting a blind eye toward the plight of the victims of bullying. We as a society cannot afford to weaken in our resolve to stamp out bullying in schools and in other segments of society but also to cast a cold and clear light upon the causes of why bullying exists, and the first members of the community to step into that light should and must be the parents of bullies themselves.
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Full-Time Summer Employment: Special Events Coordinator
2013-05-09
ARE YOU ENERGETIC, INNOVATIVE, DRIVEN? WOULD YOU LIKE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR COMMUNITY? Come join the Synergies movement this summer!
April Column: Politeness Never Goes Out of Style by Jennifer Henry
2013-04-16
Let me start out by saying that I am not a prudish person. Nor am I the personification of perfect manners all the time. I argue, criticize, disagree and challenge opinions and positions on a regular basis. The important thing to remember is the HOW I do these things.
Are you an emerging leader in Atlantic Canada?
2013-04-07
If so, we invite you to apply to participate in the 4Front Atlantic Conference, taking place in Halifax on Thursday, May 30, 2013, and a pre-conference reception on Wednesday, May 29th, 2013.
Synergies Survey
2013-03-15
Congratulations to Erin Hennessy, winner of two tickets to see the Tanning Ramones on March 16th at the Bathurst Curling Club and a $25 gift certificate from Joey's Pub.
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