Lawsuit shows examples of community-level bullying

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, May 11, 2016

What does bullying look like on the community level? We get it on the individual level. Bully (person with social power) picks on victim (person without social power) while bystanders (the source of social power) watch silently. But, what about community-level bullying?

Is it bullying when high status individuals (the school district superintendent) use their power (community-wide email) to promote the lack of validity of a lawsuit filed by two school district families? Is it bullying when another powerful purveyor of “respected & trustworthy information” (The Beachcomber) allows a letter to be published anonymously? A letter which is clearly biased against the plaintiffs in a legal case? A letter which establishes the anonymous writer as a person possessing insider knowledge (“From a somewhat informed position…”) and then goes on to assassinate the character of the plaintiffs (from the safety & security of anonymity) using the words: “hysterically out of proportion,” “ambush,” “ugly” and “calculated tactics.”

What do bystanders (the source of social power) learn when they witness unopposed bullying? I think they learn that they could become a victim, too. I think they begin to fear “stepping out of line” or speaking up. I think the minority voice is being shut down.

Misuse of community power and permitted anonymous hostility toward these two families (who have already suffered) reminds me of the “No More” Dove Campaign signs plastered all over downtown Vashon. I thought we were trying to get away from blaming the victim?

By the way, my name is March Twisdale and my son attends McMurray Middle School.

— March Twisdale