Strong and Sensitive

An interesting opinion piece ended up in my Facebook news feed today. I bit and read it. In part of the article the author, Mark Steyn was discussing legislation that is being considered by the Government of Ontario that would require school boards to set up Gay-Straight Alliances for their students. He also argued this is a bit narrow in thinking as there are a lot of groups that get bullied and they are not being helped by this proposal.

Before anyone gets up in arms, I'm not suggesting having a Gay-Straight Alliance is a bad thing.  For me, things have evolved to the point that it doesn't matter to me which team you play for. I have friends who are gay, I work with people who are gay. It makes absolutely no difference to me. It changes my opinion of someone about as much as what soccer team they cheer for.

He was also discussing bullying, as this is the central issue to the legislation.

Legitimate bullying is not acceptable but to be the brunt of the occasional joke isn't the end of the world.  My parents wanted me to be resilient and independent. I think they were very successful on that one. Maybe a bit too successful.  I don't ask for help at times when I should and I can go a long time between phone calls home. Not because I don't want to catch up with Mom and Dad, I just get busy and don't realize a month has passed since I spoke to them. I should probably work on that.  I think because of how my parents wanted me to turn out, I'm strong enough to handle jokes about my shortcomings. Sometimes they are even funny to me. Of course this is not legitimate bullying. That's where someone is tormented and it is not good natured.

If you don't let bullying get to you it dissuades the bully. Now that's easier said than done and you have to be strong to hold that position. If your strong you also need to be sensitive that you don't hurt others. It's a balance but I think we can get there.