Have you ever heard of “accidental bullying?” The term was coined by author Sue Scheff. It refers to a situation when someone unintentionally hurts another person’s feelings in a public way—for example, on social media. To learn more about accidental bullying, read Scheff’s article in HuffPost and watch the video below.
“It was just a joke… But it’s not so funny anymore.”
She thought the note he gave her was silly, and she shared it online with her friends and made fun of him in messages. And now her “joke” has ruined the young man’s reputation.
Have you ever been an accidental bully? or accidentally bullied someone else?
Also, according to Dr. James Dobson, adults can accidentally bully a child. For example, he remembers a time when:
a teacher was trying to teach his students the concept of large and small. This teacher brought a tall girl and a short boy up to the front of the class room. He then showed the class that the girl is large, and the boy is small (Dobson). While the teacher probably had no intention to hurt his students’ feelings, his insensitivity to their feelings may have hurt them. We commonly associate bullying as something that happens between peers. Many times teachers mean no harm, or are just trying to be funny, but they end up hurting their student’s feelings.
Have you ever been an accidental bully? or accidentally bullied someone else? Has your child ever been accidentally bullied? Can you share some specifics with us in the comments?