Our columnist has her say on the royal coronation, mucky hotels and lockdown
NO, BULLYING IS NEVER EVER OK
But is using violence the answer, or is there a better way to deal with bullies?
Is it ever OK to punch somebody in the face? And have you ever done it? These are questions that on the surface sound daft, because surely violence is never the answer? But perhaps it also depends on the situation.
Say you’re a schoolgirl, working hard for your GCSEs who faces bullying every day. You need to concentrate on passing those exams. Instead, a gang of mean girls take delight in name calling, physical intimidation and psychological torture.
You’ve tried rising above it and ignoring it, you’ve reported it to your teachers, and your parents have complained to the school. Yet every day it goes on. Your mental health and studies suffer.
This happened to the 16-year-old daughter of Bianca Austin, wife of former Southampton and now Swindon footballer, Charlie Austin. Eventually, Bianca’s daughter snapped and punched her chief tormentor. For which she was suspended for two days while the supposed victim of violence was allowed to continue her lessons. It stopped the bullying, but led to the mum being bullied online for posting how proud she was of her daughter. Ironic, isn’t it?
I don’t condone violence, but there are times when you have to stand up for yourself, whether you like it or not. If, after all other avenues have been exhausted, that involves hitting out in self-defence, should that not be acceptable?
Especially when you consider that we have such an epidemic of bullying in our schools: 40% of youngsters have been victims in the past 12 months. And it doesn’t stop in school, either. A shocking 80% of managers admit that bullying occurs in their workplace.
What on earth is going on here? Bullies have always been around, obviously, but it does appear to be getting worse. Are we just reporting it more? Or have we genuinely, as a society, become more uncaring about one another?
It’s probably a bit of both, but the systems in place for dealing with this are clearly not working.
The National Bullying Helpline says that if parents don’t feel a school is taking satisfactory action they should contact their local authority, because it has a statutory duty to ensure all children in school are safe at all times.
I’m not sure about you, but trying to get through to my local authority over something as simple as paying for a parking permit takes an age and the patience of several saints. The words ‘pillar’ and ‘post’ were invented for phoning councils.
So if you’ve g
