Bullying is Broken | The Hero Construction Company I came across this on another blog. It's right on about not having a clear definition of bullying, each person having varying views. However, I don't see banning the word as an option, rather we should try to find a more concise definition that most within the school can come to some agreement on. We also need to clarify what it means to each person.
The insistence on zero tolerance policies are not going to fix the problem, and make no attempt at working at the roots of the problem. They are inflexible, and often unconscionable. Also, though some things in the list on the blog may seem small and petty, not important enough to consider bullying, when done often enough, demeaning others, and diminishing their feeling of self worth can cause serious severe harm. We also need to remember that emotional damage can cause far more lasting problems than some physical damage, and all of it has an emotional attachment which can remain long after the abuse stops and the bully is gone.
