Bullying, yes I'm serious.

Stuart Chignell

This thread is meant to go along with the thread the thread "Tone of the Forum"

http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=19029&hilit=tone

A number of times this week threads have degenerated into incidents that could very easily be defined as bullying.

Under Australian Law bullying is not only antisocial but illegal, ie it is a cime for which you can be prosecuted.

I'm not saying that any of the incidents that we have seen lately have been heinous enough to attract prosecution but people should be aware of how far things can go if they get out of hand. Legally many of you would be beyond prosecution because you live outside of Australia but I don't know where Joel and the other moderators would stand if they didn't actively deal/police acts of bullying to which their attention was drawn.

Fortunately for us we have a forum leadership team (the moderators) that is interested in and is actively working to ensure that the tone of the forum at worst rarely dips below civil.

Name calling, defamation, innuendo, offensive language and a bunch of other things can be construed as bullying. People should know that the person that does the construing is not the speaker of the insult but the one who hears it, or in this case reads it, who may or may not be the object of the insult or comment.

Given the number and nature of recent incidences may be we need a public policy that warms people against bullying and a policy that lays out consequences? That would make it crystal clear to people what is and is not acceptable and what will happen if they cross the line.

earthbound

Are you threatening and bullying me......? :dontknow:

I'm not sure about the multiple threads your talking about necessarily, but I can take a stab at one of them. I find it ironic because most of the harsh tone on here was in reaction to what most people have taken as bully and threatening words on another site, it was their reaction to it.. :dontknow:

Stuart Chignell

That was one of them, another one resulted in someone getting a holiday. That was the two I was thinking of at the time but there have been a few over the last while hence the need for you to start the "Tone of the Forum" thread

People went beyond attacking/criticising the content of the other website to attacking and insulting the author of the website. I have no problem with the former but I do with the latter. Bullying is a hot topic in another group that I am a member of at the moment due to an unfortunate incident which got people talking about how to deal with such behaviours so before they became a big problem.

Over all I think you guys are pretty good at managing antisocial posters but that doesn't mean we couldn't be better.

Domani

Stuart, for my better understanding....could you be so kind to define more explicit what you consider to be bullying? And yes, I'm serious too!

Stuart Chignell

Other peoples words are better than mine:

http://www.lawstuff.org.au/sa_law/topic ... Defamation

HairyCamel

Good on you Stuart for bringing this up, the tone used in a couple of the threads has most definitely been aggressive and unwarranted. I myself have a pretty thick skin but there are others like my son who will take on board remarks made against them and it is degrading and demoralizing to them.

kitacooch

Ive seen some aggressive [posting of late but none warranting the label bullying, I've been call much worse in public, online you have the choice to turn off or ignore threads. Bullying in my eyes is where someone continually targets and attacks. I have no bullying issues with this site even considering recent postings i have seen, not saying i haven't seen all though?? Just my 2 bobs as i think the bullying tag come out more often than it probably should. But thats my opinion only i am a little old school and less sensitive to the topic.

blind freddie

Bugger it sounds like I've missed a few lively post's lately.

Bring back the Biff I reckon :blackeye:

All this online bullying stuff seems a bit soft too me :whistle:

kitacooch

blind freddie wrote:

Bugger it sounds like I've missed a few lively post's lately.

Bring back the Biff I reckon :blackeye:

All this online bullying stuff seems a bit soft too me :whistle:

LOL

Stuart Chignell

kitacooch wrote:

Ive seen some aggressive [posting of late but none warranting the label bullying,

I am not sure I would say the behaviour I have observed was bullying but I would say it that it was moving in that direction. Certainly what I saw I believe warrants an apology. Also I would be uncomfortable leaving such behaviour unchallenged

In my experience its better to deal with things like this up front and to do the best you can to nip them in the bud.

kitacooch

Stuart Chignell wrote:

kitacooch wrote:

Ive seen some aggressive [posting of late but none warranting the label bullying,

I am not sure I would say the behaviour I have observed was bullying but I would say it that it was moving in that direction. Certainly what I saw I believe warrants an apology. Also I would be uncomfortable leaving such behaviour unchallenged

In my experience its better to deal with things like this up front and to do the best you can to nip them in the bud.

Agreed, 3 strikes your out, 1 warning, 2 time suspension, 3 your out, but once rules are made, lines need to be drawn in the sand and that can be difficult and time consuming, worth it if it is something that rears its ugly head too often but i imagine it is rare on this site?? Most often clowns disappear after a rant or at least members avoid interacting with them forcing them to go else where.

Domani

Stuart, I think you have too much time on your hands. I'm sure you can use that time more constructive for yourself and others.

And, if someone would bullying me I can take care of myself. No need for you to step up for me. I might be mistaking, but I think on a forum amongst grown ups most can take care of themselves. Don't you think so?

kitacooch

Domani wrote:

Stuart, I think you have too much time on your hands. I'm sure you can use that time more constructive for yourself and others.

And, if someone would bullying me I can take care of myself. No need for you to step up for me. I might be mistaking, but I think on a forum amongst grown ups most can take care of themselves. Don't you think so?

Domani, now your just being a tosser, you said your piece, now disappear off into to the cyber yonder to reflect on your maturity or lack there of.

Charlie

We run are fair, minimal intervention forum here. I've said it before, this is Joel's forum and he calls the shots, the mods just direct the traffic and assist keeping things in line as per our expectations for taking on the role. Derogatory and downgrading comments will never be tolerated but a little biff here and there is common nature. We are all human and will voice our opinions and I can't see a problem with that. This is an open forum and we can't tell you how to behave, that part is up to you...

Domani

Hey Kitacooch, that's one strike for you. Stop bullying me!

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