You can find this poster here
When we use the word anti-bullying, we are articulating what we don’t want. So in this instance I ask the question … what do we want?
The counter position to bullying is lost in the current conversations, which is the opportunity to recognise preferred behaviour.
It’s easy to be against and say no .. more difficult to be for and say yes
May be it’s time we got clear and created a turnaround in the conversation?
This above quote is an extract of a comment from reader Andrew on my post Is the Mean Mob Mentality Out Of Control. See footnote
I am confident we will all agree that Andrew makes a very valid point
When you Google ‘Modelling Anti-Bullying Behaviour’ Google Scholar offers a plethora of articles
Social science research tells us if we craft the message that signals preferred behaviour we get preferred behaviour.
Using an example I saw at boys school I visited in 2016. The sign in the foyer said “65% of men and boys interviewed think domestic violence occurs”
The social scientists tell us this sign models negative behaviour. The ideal sign would say “100% of men think domestic violence is wrong.”
Clearly the image at the top of the post is a great example of modelling preferred behaviour. See article here
Love other readers thoughts on how we rise to challenge that Andrew has posed
Footnote
Andrew’s comment on the original blog
Where I’m coming from is contrarian to many, so please read to the end.
This is not a criticism of what’s happening in general or the posts and comments here.In grappling with the issue we are faced with in relation to personal attacks in social and mainstream media we need to call out bullying for what it is, and those carrying out that behaviour need to be held to account.
At this time I’m reminded of Sister Teresa of Calcutta.
She was asked to attend an “anti-war” rally, where the proponents would have obviously used her presence to leverage the PR.
Sister Teresa’s response was if you can explain to me what you are for, I’ll consider it.When we use the word anti-bullying, we are articulating what we don’t want. So in this instance I ask the question … what do we want?
Using Sister Teresa’s framework … if we are anti bullying, what are we for?
The counter position to bullying is lost in the current conversations, which is the opportunity to recognise preferred behaviour.
We know what we don’t want but, have difficulty articulating what we do want.
When training dogs, we reward positive behaviour for the obvious reason, with young children we do the same when it comes to behaviours. Or we should.So what behaviour do we wish to recognise as it applies to social and mainstream media behaviour?
It’s easy to be against and say no .. more difficult to be for and say yes
May be it’s time we got clear and created a turnaround in the conversation?
