BULLIES: Here, there, everywhere

I wanted to address the issue of bullying. Nothing new as far as I can see. Since I started school in 1959 and finished in 1971, bullies were the norm. In reality, bullies are everywhere, and anyone who believes they are just in our schools is a fool. They are in the home, the workplace, on the street, even in our churches. There are plenty to go around.

I worked for the same company for 37 years. We had bullies. Not a charter member of the company clique? Don’t have the same hobby? The same morals? No big deal when it’s just the two of you, but get into the crowd or the mix, your dignity flies right out the window. Verbal abuse? Humiliation? You bet. Tuned them out every day.

Generally speaking, some folks mentally never grow up. Do you want to see bullies in action? Become a fly on the wall and watch how the “adults” deal with the guy or gal who screwed up their order at the local McDonald’s. Put this in perspective people. If you are bullied on the street, it’s called assault and battery. If you bully your spouse, it’s called domestic violence. If you bully your kids, it’s called child abuse. A little extreme? Maybe. Point being, in the real world, OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL, it’s against the law.

Call it what it is. Deal with it the way it should be dealt with. A trip to the principal’s office? Come on.

PAUL DALY

Coeur d’Alene