Causes of Bullying – the Carrot and the Stick

All living creatures are programmed to strive for power. There is nothing inherently wrong with this. It is the nature of life. Having power feels good; being powerless feels bad.

There are two general methods of obtaining this power – the carrot way and the stick way.

The carrot way is the positive way. It involves giving people what they want so they, in turn, will give you what you want. This is the friendly approach.

The stick way is negative. It involves threatening people with pain, so they will give you what you want in order to avoid the pain. This is the bully approach.

This inherent nature and approach is one of the primary causes of bullying. Almost all the other causes of bullying boil down to this one reason.

It must however be noted that we all use both methods to some extent. For example, to succeed in a position of authority, we need to be willing to use the stick as well as the carrot. We can get people to obey us by making them feel good (carrot way). But unless we are also able to intimidate people (stick way), we are not able to manage those who feel like defying us.

If citizens aren’t afraid of policemen, they will break laws more frequently. If employees aren’t afraid of their boss, the company is likely to fail. If children have no fear of their parents, they will do whatever they want.

How can you ensure that the carrot way is used, instead of the stick way, in your classroom?

From Professional Learning Board’s online continuing education course for teachers: Bullying: The Golden Rule Solution