Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I belong to a forestry forum and if you are out of line, off to the woodshed for a time out. There is no apparent "warning". They have a long list of rules (common sense) and people regularly get sent away, which is fine by me. That keeps the forum "family friendly". The most simple rule - if it would offend an 8-year-old, it doesn't belong.

8 year olds can be pretty offensive...

This is a bit of a rant but I'm not a big fan of these laws because of their subjective nature and how they've been misused in the past. Think about it folks; How would you defend yourself if you weren't guilty but you had little or no money?

These laws also play into what is socially acceptable at a given point in time. So ask yourself how would a law like this have been used against minorities who tried to sit in a white only seat on the bus. Does anyone here think this law would have done anything for situations where the majority is the bully?

Do these laws really protect you from the worst bullies, corporations and your government? Not really, it's especially easy for them to bully because they can remain unemotional and it doesn't seem like bullying - remember corporations are treated like people but aren't people. Whistle blowers have experienced this sort of thing first hand via negative performance reviews and other information provided to prospective employers. Just the fact that you blew the whistle and it's out there on the Internet somewhere is damning to some employers.

If we had another red scare would this law protect those accused as communists by the government from being bullied and vilified in multitudes of Internet posts? Hell no! All the government has to do is publish a list of "Suspected Communists" and the rest is taken care of for them.

I may have gone a bit off my mark but hopefully you get the idea. I'd say let BYAP continue to do what they have done without the extra legal ease.

Unfortunately no they can't. Nor should they have to. Personnaly I can but I don't like to and I'd rather I didn't have to.

Also because I can and I know others can't I will speak out in others defence because I think it is the right thing to do and also because even though I can look out for myself I always find it nice when others do so for me.

Unfortunately two wrongs don't make a right you may disagree with Domani but name calling just continues the problem.

Well I've already admitted that in another post.



I believe that standing up for what I believe is one of the best uses of my time.

Wow! It's just like Facebook without the photos

Look if you feel that someone is being unfairly treated you have a voice, use it.

lol a lil resistance builds character sometimes.... we are all mature enough to know what not to say if we see the person face to face. let that be your guide..

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sticks and stones... If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Get where your coming from, but wouldn't be overly concerned about people(adults, not children) being bullied in text form. If they don't like it, they can always click the "off" button.

This is one of the attitudes that i want to change.

Psychological harm can be just as harmful if not more so than physical harm.

We do not need to consider extreme examples to see that allowing some negative forms of behaviour is to a groups disadvantage.

In fact when you say "if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen" you are saying to people that find the forms of behaviour that we are talking about unpleasant you are saying that you are not concerned about their feelings. You are also saying that you don't value their presence or contribution and that you would rather see them leave than discourage forms of behaviour that make them uncomfortable.

I would reply and say that if you think that it is acceptable to insult people and that personal abuse is an acceptable form of communication and debate then I would say that maybe you should consider leaving the kitchen if you are unwilling to consider the feelings of others and change your behaviour accordlingly.

I don't know about the legal situation in America but in Australia there are serious penalties that can be imposed on employers that allow workplace bullying. Now if such behaviours are unacceptable in the workplace why should they be acceptable in social groups?

I say this as a kid that was bullied growing up. I was the shortest in my grade/looked they youngest until year 10-11 when puberty kicked in late, so I was a natural target.

Kids need to learn to deal with conflict, to think it out, and to find a solution. You need to develop the skills that won't send you into a catatonic state if a drunk idiot comes up to you demanding something, the ability to stand up to a douche of a boss who is demanding, or not be pushed around by a stronger personality.

I worry about the wrapping the current generation in cotton wool, I agree that social media makes it harder for kids to avoid bullying, but in the next 20 years, everything is going to be far more connected (think what will happen when social media can be directly connected to your brain, maybe 50 years away for that). Kids need to learn to deal with negative people, they need to learn how to hit the delete/ignore button. They need to think through situations and be better for it.

Intervention should be in the form of parents/friends/peers, not laws.

And to be perfectly honest, I doubt there are any minors on this forum (I don't think many teenagers get attracted to AP), we're all adults, and I think we can handle somebody calling another person a trout killer and comparing them to a nazi (what I think sparked off this thread). There will always be idiots out there, people need to learn to be distanced from that sort of crap, and it was mostly condemnation from the others on that thread against the negative person, which shows there is a healthy self regulating community here.

In my opinion, the current generations are going to be the most level headed, intelligence, with the least amount of problems. They've/we've got information on anything they want on their fingertips, can find through the internet people with similar interests, so there will be less people feeling alone and acting out because of it, mental health issues can be discovered, and investigated online and people in the same boat will be found/connected with. Bullying usually stems from issues the bully is having at home/stuff they can't deal with, I think in the future when they can find solutions for themselves, this won't be a problem. It doesn't need cotton wool.

You know, I started to type quite a long response here dealing with different aspects of this discussion but in the end I've deleted it all.

Stuart, do you remember a few years back with some of the inter forum rivalry going on? I know all to well what cyber bullying is all about and I don't believe that anything on this forum lately has equated to bullying. If you want to classify whats happened recently as bullying, then in the same vane I would think that your suggestions would have to be classed as oppression.

Because as with most things in life including aquaponics and perhaps also running a forum, I feel that the best answer and solution is the simplest one. The overwhelming majority of people feel that things around here run pretty well. So, I shall keep doing what I've done up till now.... And shall encourage the mods to do the same...

Same here. I finally gave up after the 3rd or 4th try