🧵Tuesday Thread: How do we stop bullying?

Or is it (gulp) good for us?

Jasmine Beel, Vivian Panka, Erin Caldwell, and Maddison Firth in Heathers The Musical. Image by Pamela Raith for “Playbill”

Lately, everyone and their mother have been writing about Taylor Swift’s new album, Tortured Poets Department. The day after it dropped, I wrote about how her song “thanK you, aIMee” resonated with my experiences dealing with mean, popular girls.

Today’s thread is inspired by a comment on that post from

The Purple Peach

, who wrote about how her bully “tortured me and my open heart. I was the new kid just wanting acceptance.”

Most of my bullying experiences were also just that: I was the new kid, looking for friends, seeking acceptance, and leading with an open heart.

But in society, on the playground, and in the work place, nice people are taken advantage of. Kindness and vulnerability are mistaken for weakness.

Aggressiveness, abusiveness, and apathy are rewarded in professional spaces. Dominance is respected, feared, and given promotions; people displaying such attributes are more easily forgiven.