I was drawn to a story in the press this morning

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/most-workplace-bullying-claims-fall-short-20110723-1hub7.html

"THE number of Victorians claiming to have been bullied at work has skyrocketed, with complaints to WorkSafe Victoria more than doubling to 6000 in the past year.

But no action was taken on the vast majority of complaints, as most fell well short of what constitutes workplace bullying"

and

"WorkSafe's executive director of health and safety, Ian Forsyth, believes the huge surge in complaints can largely be attributed to greater awareness about bullying"

and

"Of the 6000 bullying complaints made to WorkSafe, only 10 per cent were referred to the bullying response unit. Of those referrals, one in 10 resulted in an inspector visiting a workplace to conduct further inquiries."

and

"''I think what we are seeing is that the term bullying is being used quite loosely in the community now in many instances to describe something that has 'gone against me' or 'that I haven't liked' or something that 'I haven't wanted to do','' says Mr Forsyth."

I agree with Mr Forsyth and I think the problem is much wider than just the misuse of the "bullying" complaints process. A similar burgeoning of claims for protection under DVOs/AVOs has occurred, with few tested in court, since most are "accepted without admission". In my experience, there is enormous pressure on alleged perpetrators to do so, with little concern for the veracity or seriousness of claims and enormous support offered to "victims".

In schools, we see children being taught that if they don't like what someone says they should complain to a teacher and we have children being given detentions and suspensions for "bullying" that might be no more than a schoolyard shove. The number of suspensions is at an all-time high per capita.

It seems to me that we are creating a culture in which claiming victimisation is the first step for anyone wanting to cause trouble for someone else. How did the nation that proudly sent its sons to Gallipoli end up as such a bunch of pansies?

Remember repetitive strain injury?

That was one of the popular fads for trying to rip off the company, for a while.

Antiseptic:>> How did the nation that proudly sent its sons to Gallipoli end up as such a bunch of pansies?<<

The Fabians infiltrated our scholastic and community organisations that is how Antiseptic.

The most perceptive comment on bullying I have encountered comes from a Professor Groucho Marx:
"Hey you big bully, leave that little bully alone".

We could reduce the incidence of bullying if our law allowed us to reciprocate.

Hi Individual,
Good Point. There is a difference, for example, of the (moderate) apprentice initiation pranks, and those that turn into utmost humiliation. I reckon that if someone bullies, they should expect immediate retaliation. (Eye for an Eye etc.).Bullies, are usually made from the cowardly type, that run back to mummy after they have been bullied themselves.
NSB
PS, I don't condone violence of any sort, but usually the bullies hunt in groups, safety in numbers trick. What goes around etc.etc.

The fact is bullying does go on but it is perhaps not as pervasive as responses to awareness campaigns might indicated. However, if people don't complain these bullying behaviours continue to be rewarded.

The first port of call should ideally be internally and if there is no positive response by management sometimes approaches to external agencies are all that is left.

That is what the regulations are there for, if the complaints are bogus or stretching the definitions of bullying, then clearly the system is working if only one in 10 of these complaints are being formally investigated.

It is true that the bullying tag might be applied too liberally as with any allegation, but hopefully that is what people vested with the responsibility of sorting out the facts are qualified and trained to do.

Fact is though in many organisations, particularly government departments, complaints about bullying are often ignored, especially if the back story relates to issues that might embarrass a department or its senior managers. Much better just to whitewash the issues and diminish the claims of the complainants.