Do it my way or else

Respect, care, responsibility, honesty, cooperation, even democracy all have widely accepted community definitions. The catch is what these values look like in any given context and a key to that understanding is to explore and expose the values that underline decision-making, actions and statements.

This exploration describes values in a variety of contexts and students begin to understand their content. A more explicit approach to values education in all subjects would assist students to understand the values that underpin Australian society and shape their lives for living in their communities.

Secular and Religious Perspectives:

Any discussion about bullying behaviours and involving values and ethics, needs to include a discussion about religion and other belief systems.

Growing secularism in Australian society should not lose sight of the fact that religion remains the choice of most of the word's population, including many Australians.

Only in some western countries is secularism becoming a majority view, sometimes challenging traditional values. To understand the world we live in, an understanding of religious beliefs across the globe is important if we are to make sense of this world and stay connected to our communities.

The connection, both positive and negative, between religion, values and behaviours is an important one and should not to be underestimated. Individuals need to adopt a meaningful explanation about what life is about if they are to be connected to the world around them.

In Australia, recognition needs to be given to the Christian heritage and values that have underpinned our development. The addition of people from other faiths is also shaping our values and currently the push for more secular ethics will do the same.

To address bullying, further exploration of our values and their origins will be increasingly important to establish confident individuals, with a self-esteem that will not resort to bullying to feel good about themselves or to get what they want from others.

When a person is frightened by persistent bullying behaviours aimed at exerting power and, as a consequence, change their decisions, behaviours or beliefs, then they have been bullied.

How to deal with the bullying behaviours is an ongoing problem. Talking more about bullying is a good way to expose behaviours that are unacceptable, to reinforce good behaviours and to open dialogue with the community about what individuals, governments and communities need to do to minimise bullying. Let the discussion roll on.