It seems like we’ve been hearing a lot in the news in recent years about bullying. Unfortunately, there are very few of us who have not experienced bullying at some point in our lives; sometimes we are the ones who are intimidated and sometimes we are the ones who commit the acts of persecution. This aggressive action almost always implies an imbalance of power. Sometimes that imbalance is concrete, like messing with someone smaller and weaker. In other circumstances, it’s simply the perception that someone else has more power, such as being intimidated by those you perceive to be more popular than you. Harassment can take the form of force, threats or coercion, but no matter how it is delivered, the result is abuse and/or intimidation.
Bullying is often repeated or the threat of its repetition is almost constant, which affects the psyche of the harassed person. The reasons for this are abundant, although never justifiable. Often times it results from the threat of physical confrontation, but more often, it is a series of psychological attacks that ultimately impact the person being harassed. Some specific examples of bullying are intentional alienation from a group, spreading rumors, and verbal abuse, but these are just some of the methods used by bullies.
Of course, along with the arrival of the 21st century came cyberbullying, especially through social media. This form of bullying has made it possible to bully others without even being in their presence. In fact, there are countless cases of some people being harassed by others whom they have never actually met.
Tragically, national attention on the correlation between bullying and teen suicide has come to the fore. According to the Centers for Disease Control, suicide is the third leading cause of death among teens with 4,400 suicides a year, and a Yale study on bullying revealed that teens who are bullied are 2 to 9 times more likely to commit suicide than other adolescents. Too often, parents of bullies consider it just “kid stuff,” and parents of those being bullied expect them to get rid of them by taking a “Don’t let it get to you” approach. The national statistics regarding bullying and its outcome indicate that it is NOT just a kid thing, and has developed to a level where many kids can’t just ignore it.
It’s unfortunate that almost everyone has been bullied at some point in their life. It usually happens between children, but that doesn’t stop adults from being bullied by other adults. We see this a lot with Big Brother: politicians or others who are in positions of power. In such circumstances, bullying is called rankism, which is based on the concept of a hierarchical system used to inflict abuse based on one’s position within that system. It boils down to an abuse of power.
One of the most prolific samples of rankism, and to which the largest number of people are exposed, is the application of the law. Anyone who has received a traffic ticket has probably experienced it firsthand. It starts with the shame of being pulled over: all those other drivers looking on while you’re sitting on the side of the road. It’s akin to all the kids at the lunch table laughing as the ninth grade bully makes fun of your acne.
When the cop starts interrogating you with questions like “Do you know how fast you were going?” or “Have you been drinking?” the inequality of power you experience is reminiscent of a kid older than you leaning into your face and hurling nasty comments and threats at you. Even the juxtaposition is the same: you are sitting in your vehicle while the police officer stands over you demanding answers.
A parallel can be drawn with regard to even physical harassment during a traffic stop. The average person is going to be pretty nervous because he knows that just one glass of wine or the slightest indication that you are not cooperating and the cop can handcuff you and throw you in the back of your car. I have been a lawyer for a long time, but I have never met a person who likes to be pulled over.
I think sometimes kids who are bullied grow up to be bullies, and I think this is especially true of police officers. They carry a weapon that immediately puts most people at a terrible disadvantage and a badge that gives them the power to arrest you if you simply want to ask them why they arrested you. Simple inquiries can be construed as “uncooperative” and could result in an arrest. Even those police officers who start enforcing the law with altruistic intentions can get tired and forget that they are dealing with human beings to whom the Constitution grants certain freedoms. Once law enforcement begins to view everyone the same, as a criminal who is trying to get away with murder, it becomes easier in their own minds to justify their legally sanctioned oppression.
This type of injustice in our legal system is why I am a traffic ticket attorney. I am a firm believer in standing up for the protection of individual civil liberties. I feel that in recent years there have been changes to traffic laws, as well as other areas of the law, that have severely diminished many of our personal liberties. Although there have always been police officers who have behaved as if they were on a power trip, there seems to be a greater sense among law enforcement officers these days of an us versus them mentality.
Regardless of a police officer’s mindset, it is still a serious infringement of civil liberties to harass a general citizen because of their race, religion, size, driving habits, or perceived driving habits. Consequently, if you feel that you have suffered from any of the intimidation practices that I have mentioned here when receiving a traffic ticket, please call our office for a free consultation at 954-967-9888.