The politics of bullying
When the bully started moving in the corner of the playground
the rest of the children didn't really believe him:
He was just one of them,
and if he got to be too much,
he would surely be stopped.
Over the next few months,
the bully began to learn the successful politics of bullying
If you are prepared to follow up your threats
by hitting back at a few individuals
the rest of the kids were intimidated into non action.
He began to get intoxicated by his power
and a number of the other kids were prepared to play along with him
- for there were many of advantages to be on the 'winning side'
The bully, together with his gang began a serious programme of intimidation
picking on kids as they came into the playground
taking their hats,
throwing them in the dust
jeering at them,
taking their pocket money
There were a number of kids who decided to take a stand against him and his
gang
and the other children watched with awe
and fear
as they got beaten up and tossed aside.
The lives of the children in the playground began to get more and more
uncomfortable
They lived under the constant threat of violence
of having their lunches taken away.
They resorted to standing along the fences
hoping that they would not be picked on.
And all the time they waited for
'Some One Who Was Responsible'
to come and take the bully on
But no one did
and the bully grew so inflated with the power they gave him.
that when he began to hear the other children whisper against him
he passed a new rule:
any one heard saying anything against him would be beaten up too!
The children got more and more quiet
felt more and more powerless
began to got hungrier
and their lives became more miserable
as it began to dawn on them
THAT NO ONE WAS COMING
That it was only them who could get rid of the bully
for after all
he was one of them.
It would only be through the combined power of all the children in the
playground
that they could begin to change their lives.
This weekend the bully threatened the lives of the last group
the ones who had allies over the fence
'if you hit me, we will hit them'
What will the children do?
Perhaps it is time for us to grow up,
realise our own power
and take responsibility for our own playground?