FOOD FOR THOUGHT
IBeing bullied is a horrible experiencenight. no matter what age you are
WAS recently reading about Katie Price’s son Harvey being bullied on social media, and I’m simply horrified at the vile abuse he was subjected to.
The fact that he is disabled makes it even worse. He is lucky he has a clued-in mum like Katie to help defend and protect him.
People say children can be so cruel, but Harvey’s case shows that adults are also capable of terrible cruelty, even when it comes to mocking a child.
That’s why the Government has to listen to the current campaign by the Irish Daily Mail to raise the legal age of owning a smartphone to 13. We have to do something to protect our young from predators and bullies on the world wide web.
Our children are just that — children — and there are monsters out there who are just waiting to pounce and exploit or hurt them. Social media is a perfect vehicle for this.
Being bullied is a horrible experience at any age and it’s about time we tackled it head on. I am an older woman, and some would say a strong woman. However, I too have had my fair share of bullies throughout my life. I work alongside my husband, and bullying is the one thing that Derry and I look out for in our workplace.
We have a young, energetic and enthusiastic team. We are old enough to be parents to most of them, and we treat them as we would have people treat our children.
Mistakes are made in every walk of life, but people need to deal with things as kind and sensitively as possible.
If we didn’t make mistakes, we would not learn, or evolve. Our business is a performance: lunch is a matinee and dinner is the evening show. We may glide like swans on the floor but we are invariably paddling like ducks underneath it all. Such is the catering industry.
All the preparation that goes into making the customer experience the best we can, still cannot guarantee that it will be all right on the
However, I have friends in other industries and we are all at a certain age where we know what we are doing and very capable in our chosen careers.
At any age, if a bully decides they don’t like the way you dress, the way you work or the fact that you are more popular than them, they are likely to resort to their old tactics. They get people on ‘their’ side and find nothing but fault with you.
This is difficult to deal with when you are young, and even when you are older, especially if you have never experienced anything like this before. We all have friends, and if you find yourself in this position remember it is good to talk.
Do not let anyone talk down to you. We are all flesh and blood; human beings.
Speak with a trusted friend or family member and don’t let any situation get out of hand — no matter how old you are.