stand up for yourself: at work, home, and school

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The following guest post is written by Carmen Blyth, of The Teacher Whisperer blog, a place for teachers with a story to tell.

Though I know that not every person who reads this blog is a teacher, I think this post is relevant even for all adults. Sometimes even as adults, we need a little reminder to stand up for ourselves, no matter the situation–in the classroom, in the workplace, in volunteer organizations, in families, or in groups of friends.

We need to stand up for ourselves so that we can be good role models for our kids.

Are you being treated the way you deserve to be treated? Are you treating others the way they deserve to be treated?

As parents, our interactions with other adults is a crazy-important model for how our kids view the world and what is expected, what is right, and what is the norm.

Let’s make sure we’re doing the best we can as a decent model for our kids at work, at home, and at school. Right? Right.

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Standing Up For Yourself–Being Bullied by Other Teachers, by Carmen Blyth

Yes, it happens! And no, ignoring it won’t make it go away. It’ll just make things worse–for you!

What does being bullied mean?

Being bullied by other teachers, means being treated in a disrespectful manner, repeatedly and intentionally. It can mean being ignored by colleagues, gossiped about, shouted at at meetings or told your input is not valued. If intentional and sustained, these types of disrespectful actions constitute bullying. And these examples are just the tip of a very large iceberg.

Being reasonable, logical, and having goodwill and a team approach will not work with a bully. Being ‘nice’ or ‘fair’ is also not an option.

So what can you do? Seemingly very little, but you can do something to stop the bullying and maybe even get the bully permanently out of your work space!

Here’s what you do:

1. Make a detailed record of the incident(s). Include the date, day, time, place who was involved, names of any witnesses and what actually happened (write what was actually said or done if you can remember).

2. Make a written complaint to your line manager (your supervisor/team leader for example). You must detail the event and who was involved. Keep the wording as calm and collected as possible so there is no chance of being called ‘emotional’ or ‘over the top.’ Make sure to ask what the school policy on bullying is and the time line for action to be taken. Require at the very least a formal apology.

3. Send a cc to the principal (or supervisor, if you are not a teacher). This is super important, as it will ensure that the complaint isn’t simply brushed aside.

4. Follow up. Follow up with the principal if you do not hear from your line manager within 24 hours.

Click here to see a sample written complaint. All names and the situations described are fictitious.

Thank you, Carmen, for sharing a post on an important–and not always easy–topic.

The TEACHER WHISPERER is a blog dedicated to teachers telling their stories, stories that will make us better teachers. Tweet me @teacherwhispers

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