The hypocrisy of our selective outrage over bullying

There was outrage on social media following a viral video depicting a disturbing incident of bullying within a school premises.

The disturbing footage showed the victim being repeatedly slapped by another female student in what appeared to be an interrogation session. This prompted widespread condemnation and calls for swift action to address bullying in the school community. In a knee-jerk reaction, the school was shut down for three days.

I think bullying in schools is not something new. If we had social media 30 to 40 years ago, I am sure most schools would have been shut down because of bullying incidents. The bullying these days is actually quite mild compared to 25 years ago and earlier. The advent of social media has simply put some of these issues into the spotlight.

This whole situation again brings the broader issue of bullying in life generally into sharp focus. The irony is that even people who bullied those supporting opposing candidates in the last presidential election are now expressing outrage over this school bullying video. Their selective outrage reeks of hypocrisy.

Let’s start with condemning the bullying behaviour of the schoolgirl perpetrator. Her actions were reprehensible and deserve punishment. However, most people expressing outrage on social media are being hypocritical. The last election was arguably the most toxic in the history of this country. Bullying was elevated to a grotesque art form during that period.

If you weren’t supporting a particular candidate, you were ruthlessly bullied into submission on social media by his supporters. Some people are still being bullied and harassed even till today because of their political leanings during that election. We even saw people openly wishing death on others simply because they didn’t back a certain candidate. The cruelty and viciousness was mind-boggling.

It’s not just politics where we see rampant bullying though. Fandoms for certain music stars have become toxic echo chambers. If there is any negative story about artists like Davido and you comment on it, you get dogpiled and bullied to the point of fearing for your life. To these unhinged fans, their faves can never do any wrong. The same goes for Wizkid and Burna Boy fans.

Sadly, social media has become the epicentre of bullying in our society because of cheap data and the anonymity it provides. People feel emboldened to insult, threaten and bully others old enough to be their grandparents, just because those people share opposing views. The lack of consequences enables abusive behaviour.

We have also seen cases of bullying in workplaces because some people, in Nigerian parlance, “want to show themselves”. They want to flex their supposed authority and belittle subordinates.

Security personnel are also perpetrators of bullying, as they routinely bully and harass civilians, empowered by their uniforms and weapons. To many Nigerians, a uniform is seen as a license to be a bully.

The outrage over this school bullying incident needs to be a wake-up call for us as a society. We cannot be selective in our condemnation of bullying.

The moral outrage should extend to bullying in all areas of life – politics, workplaces, online fandoms and more. Bullying is never acceptable, regardless of the context or perceived justifications.

People are allowed to have different political views and allegiances. They are free to dislike or be indifferent to your favourite celebrities. People can love and support whomever they want to, and it’s nobody’s business to harass or bully them for it.

Differing perspectives and opinions should be accommodated in a civil society.

Instead of being hypocrites by just condemning the actions of a troubled schoolgirl, we need to engage in serious introspection about our own bullying behaviours as adults. Many of us are guilty of engaging in bullying of some form – whether it’s towards domestic staff, service workers, subordinates at work or people with different viewpoints on social media.

We need to call out this behaviour in ourselves and those around us. Stamping out the normalisation of bullying has to start from the top.

Our leaders across all sectors – political, business, media and more – need to lead by example through their speech and conduct. They cannot indulge in denigrating language or behaviour towards those who hold differing views. We have to raise the standard of public discourse.

Crucially, teachings against all forms of bullying need to be incorporated into curricula across all levels of education – from primary to tertiary levels.

Children should be taught from an impressionable age about empathy, emotional intelligence and conflict resolution through non-violent communication. These skills will create more respectful interactions.

Only through a multipronged approach of leading by example, reeducation and societal reset can we ever hope to tackle the scourge of bullying that has permeated all spheres of our national life.

Selective outrage over a viral video is merely the start – sustained and comprehensive action is required to make lasting change.

We cannot proclaim ourselves to be a moral society while normalizing abusive behaviour in the name of asserting identity or socioeconomic supremacy over others. It’s time to be better.