Bullying in Qatar?
Bullying isn’t anything new to the society.
One can be bullied in different ways, starting from name calling, being teased or ridiculed, being made fun of one’s appearance, physical bullying and moving on to cyber bullying.
Qatar, a very safe country in many ways, has been reported to have around 38% of children being bullied every year.
Also, in a recent study conducted by Microsoft where 25 countries were surveyed for cases of cyber bullying among youths of 8-17 year old, Qatar holds the nineteenth place. At least 5 in 10 children know something or in some cases a lot about online bullying.
However, Qatar has one of the strongest and rapidly progressing online safety measures in the Gulf countries. Also, as regard to cyber bullying, many major campaigns have been inaugurated by The Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQatar) like, “On the Internet, Your Privacy is Your Responsibility” and “Keep Them Safe, Keep Them Curious”.
Although, one’s own child being bullied is every parent’s nightmare, in majority of cases parents aren’t even aware of the “rough patch” that their children are going through in school. Here are a few suggestions on how you could identify a child being bullied-
- The child bearing unexplainable wounds or injuries.
- Falling sick / faking illness always
- Disappearance of belongings, toys, gadgets etc.
- Sudden skipping of meals
- A change in sleep patterns and frequent nightmares.
- A sudden decline in grades and not wanting to go to school
In spite of all this, most schools in Qatar and worldwide exercise an anti-bullying policy. Many schools in Qatar have taken various precautions against bullying like, creating awareness against bullying, student councils conducting student surveys, issuing self-help cards with suggestions on how to react to bullying and etc.
Let us, therefore, inculcate good values in our kids and enlighten them about the damaging nature of bullying.
Bullying has always been around in one shape or another. The real danger nowadays is cyber bullying , where morons use anonymity to bully and malign others
An eye opener. Thanks QL.
Yup agree with brit..no one can stand up for you like you can...whether it be school or landcruisers, stand up for yourself and take the bully on, whatever the consequences...you will at least feel great that you werent cowering and whimpering while the bully had his way with you...my dad told me to first ensure i was fully in the right and then to go head on with any bully even if it meant losing my job or going to jail because someone knows someone who knows someone...but all this only if you truly believe you are a harmless and innocent party that was wronged for absolutely no reason...
britexpat: Such people can exist in peace and with no fear here in the Middle Eastern countries. The reason being most employees in the lower ranks have paid heavily to get a work-visa and come to this place to earn money. For the visa, many take loans back home which takes years to pay back. By "buying" a visa, they place themselves in a "bondage." Thus they are forced to suffer silently. However, in eastern countries the situation is somewhat different. Whenever, such a person is found at a workplace, the matter gets decided on the streets where workers "overhaul the engine" of such supervisors. The supervisors are well aware of this and thus stay within their pants. Having said that, everything has a limit. I came across a case in Saudi Arabia where a group of a dozen supervisors who were all from one nation, took SR 50 each month from low-paid Bangladeshi workers who numbered around 400. The salaries of each worker was just SR 500, all inclusive. This was at a huge farm which had a strength of 1300 farmhands. The farm was located in a remote area of Al Jouf where nearest city (and police station) lay at a distance of 70 kms. One Friday afternoon, the Bangladeshi workers decided they had had enough, united together, and gave all the supervisors a good thrashing. By the time the police arrived, the job had been completed, and it was a job well done!
Am I the only one fed up of this whining about Land Cruisers.
The simple fact is that you get all types on the roads . Learn to live with it and adapt
PPL lose their lives if they don't have physical strength to stand up..For road rages are perfect example. Answering bullies does not necessarily means fighting with them to termiantion. It can be smarter ways as well. One of the smartest way of answering bullies on road is not giving them what they want..until they have exhausted. And thats no weakness.
I have been a victim of a supervisor who was a bad bully when I worked for a US organization here. His rule was simple: Lick my boots or lose your job. There were several who licked his boots as they loved the glitter of the Riyal. I did not. I lost my job.
Morane: No, he has a pink Kia. You can often see it parked in front of Rizk's emporium when he wants some Karak.
Morane: Now, in addition to the landcruisers, you will also be swept aside by a neon pink kia that will be gone before you even realize its pink...you asked for it...besides, its your fault you have a picanto...you could have had a full size car for the same money had you looked hard enough..
@Mohdata, I will be on the lookout for Pink Kia always. However, rental for my picanto ends in a week. I wish i had the money to buy even a used Picanto. But, i will definitely be looking at your kind suggestions. Thanks.
As far as Bullying is concerned, one must be brave enough to face consequences of opposing it. Fortune favours the brave, almost.
Yes they do .. Have seen many a supervisor / manager bully the blue collar workers
One could say that allowing oneself to be bullied is also a sign of weakness
acchabaccha: Thee are many such cases. You are right . Most put up with such harassment for fear of losing their jobs. I heard of a case last year where a supervisor took kickbacks in order to give overtime to selected employees.
Sadly, there are no real mechanisms to address this issue.
What about bullies at work-places? Do they exist?
How about highlighting bullying on roads? Especially if ur driving a Picanto and car behind you is a Land Crusier...:) ..Bullying is characteristics of weak Humans.
@Britexpat..Seems like you drive a Land Cruiser...Learn to Adapt...
@morane: sorry for assuming you owned the picanto...the way you assumed brit drives a land cruiser...you're blameless if it was a rental....and yes, your dignity is your basic human right so you should oppose anyone that violates it...allowing it to happen is as big a no no as doing it...
Not so many talk about this in Public .. two thumbs up for atleast discussing this subject in the open...