An unsolicited opinion — Should bullying be illegal? -or- Its a Crime to Hurt my Feelings! At the moment, I cannot think of anything more ridiculous. I detest political correctness, chiefly because its a poor and superficial substitute for manners. Similarly, making the act of bullying illegal would be a substandard set of standards for civility. It seems unlikely that anyone could claim that theres an objective of civilization. Our history doesnt record an agenda for progress; its more of a hodgepodge of happenstance. Given that, a postulate that we should protect every mind and soul from any unkind act or bad day is just flatly absurd, imho. Have I been bullied? Without doubt or question. The thorny question is, have I ever been a bully? The most honest answer I can give has to be that Ive no idea. If the definition of bullying lies then with the victim, how can the behavior truly be avoided? I appreciate that someone being provoked by bullying to the point of suicide is a tragedy. Theres no other word for that, to be sure. Making a crime the provocation to that tragic decision, however, is very likely not the answer. We all have had our moments of being picked on and the butt of someone elses joke. We have all had our lapses of decorum and faux pas. I wouldnt want to imagine a society in which such mistakes/ignorance in interaction led to fines or even prison terms. Would the same law protect inmates? I doubt it.
Posted on: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 18:36:20 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015