Are YOU a bully?
Submitted by Deborah Hansen on Fri, 06/12/2009 - 13:05.
After all, our children are learning the fine art of aggression gone wild from somewhere, aren't they?

Bullying in schools has escalated past the innocent brand of teasing that many of us encountered as kids. It has become so bad, with children killing themselves due to such bullying, that many states like Florida have passed legislation that defines and then outlaws "systematic and chronic bullying and harassment of any student or employee" in public schools.

But schools are merely reflective of the environment that creates and surrounds them. Adults are engaging in increasingly aggressive behavior in both small and large ways every day:

**The car behind me this morning was driven by a woman who tailgated me at 75 mph, seemingly annoyed that I was only driving 5 miles over the speed limit in the far right lane. She waved her arms as she got closer to my bumper, trying to bully me into going faster.

**I've had co-workers over the years who bullied everyone else in sight into picking up some of their duties. Such bullying can take the form of intentional exclusion, sabotaging, public humiliation, or on-going teasing. I had a boss once who bullied everyone as his "management style."

**Talk show hosts invite listeners to call in and offer their opinions or discuss the issues; however, as soon as the host realizes that the caller has a view counter to his or her own, the belligerent interrupting and badgering begins.

**There is less tolerance for diversity among us all, with harassment common toward "different" ethnic groups or life styles. This is directly counter to the very foundation upon which our country was built.

**Some parents bully their children as their form of discipline. Therefore, these children grow up believing that bullying is the way to manage others.

The fact that many people reading this will deny these examples represent forms of bullying is at the very heart of this problem.

So, are YOU a bully? Maybe you are and don't even recognize it. The most destructive part of your ignorance is the example you are providing for the young people in your wake.