‘ Bullies’ – are
Confusing a brusque manner with bullying has fuelled the rise of kiddy- on hard men like Farage, writes Kevan Christie
Iphoned my old man – an ex- head teacher and football manager – the other day and told him I wanted his advice as I was going to write a bit about bullying, what with the ongoing stuff in the media concerning the SNP MP Joanna Cherry and various other incidents.
“Who the f***’ s Joanna Cherry?” was his reply.
“You know, the MP, she’s a QC as well – Joanna Cherry the QC, MP.” “Never heard of her.”
I knew at that point I hadn’t exactly got off to a flyer.
What a lovely position my dad is in – retired from running some of our toughest schools, obsessed with golf and Arsenal FC, plays with his grandkids, never on Twittter and doesn’t watch the Scottish news. Why would he need to know who Joanna Cherry, the QC, MP, is?
But no matter how ripe the bullying allegations against Joanna Cherry the QC, MP may or may not be, they are out there now and will appear every time someone Googles her name.
Of course I wouldn’t want to speculate on an ongoing investigation – heaven forbid. However, the issue of bullying has gotten increasingly complex in recent times and I have
my own suspicions as to what often lies at the root of the complaints.
Bullying used to be a straightup black- and- white issue with no shades of grey. It occurred when someone was physically assaulted and there wasn’t much room for debate – a playground punch in the nose often offends.
I spent my school days trying to avoid it but quickly realised – like all my mates who also had big mouths – I was going to cop a kicking at some point.
The secret was to emit a low gurgling sound not dissimilar to a death rattle in the hope they eventually got bored and left you alone.
Nowadays, bullying often gets confused with being unkind, and those in positions of authority have the impossible task of becoming thirdparty arbitrators to what is often nothing more than a perceived slight.
Don’t get me wrong, genuine bullying, be it physical or psychological is a massive stain on society, with huge steps being taken to recognise and eradicate it.
I know it can lead to suicide in the most tragic of circumstances ( before you take to Twitter or, worse still, go “beyond the wall” into the readers’ comment section to