[Looch City]

Originally Posted by manwiches

Thank you for clarifying. I was certainly talking in generalities, and definitely not to any specific situation.

Regardless of everybody's feelings towards getting bullying/abuse out of the workplace and world, this will never happen fully. It is up to us to ensure our children have the tools to deal with it, as they will more than likely experience it at some point in their lives. If everybody runs to their boss to solve their problems, no business would survive. I'm not saying stay quiet, because if it has crossed a line and communication has broken down, by all means, I would hope their is a forum that your workplace can handle that.

What I'm saying is, if there are situations that are just a matter of communicating both sides like adults and professionals, that should be done without escalating. Many issues I experienced at my old job, could have been mitigated by just coming to me and talking like an adult. A culture of fear, so to speak, is what I used to work in. It was demoralizing and pathetic.

In sports, in the moment, many problems are dealt with in the heat of the moment. In the locker room / bench, there should be an environment where players/coaches can talk and communicate. The culture of fear is not the way of the future, in any workplace.

My son is in kindergarten, and the biggest thing being taught by his teacher at that age is, if there is a problem, try to handle it yourself first with your words. If nothing happens after you've asked a couple times, then go to the teacher and advise. I'm also raising my son to learn to deal with his problems on his own, with his words, and with empathy. However, should things escalate, talk to an elder, or in the worse case, tell them off firmly. He will experience situations as he grows up, where he feels helpless, and I will always be there to give him advice, but my goal is to raise him to deal with his problems head on, without escalating to an authority, if need be. I feel that this generation is constantly running to someone else to fix their problems, and I don't want my son to grow up like that.

Sorry for the ramble/soapbox. I think I've said my piece on the subject, and I'll step back now.

I understand what you're saying but I also think you're generalizing it too much here and losing one of the key points that started all this: it was a coach being abusive. This was not player to player interaction but a coach. A person in the position of power over a group of 18-40 year old adults.

How does hockey player in that situation ring the alarm or speak out without jeopardizing his career? Currently, the solutions are limited to "suck it up and deal with it/be a man", but we're hoping that these revelations change that and more athletes are encouraged to speak up.