steinbach

our hosts took us for a road trip to steinbach, south of winnipeg. we had lunch at a.d. penner park and then take a dip at the indoor pool of steinback aquatic centre. here are some of the pics. the rest of the pics are at http://jolen.shutterfly.com/ontheroad/2623


it was windy and the wind is cold. aquim kept telling me he is ginaw. tita peng lent us her fleece jacket. we are still not quite familiar with the weather. people here are actually relying on weather forecasts and they are quite reliable. our hosts say when we've been here long enought, we will know what to expect when it says 18 or 12 or 22.
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one of the things i love here in canada, are the parks! this is the first park we have visited, the a.d. penner park. i'll google later what are the parks in winnipeg. this is quite a large park. one can play soccer, beach volleyball and has a playground.

aquim having fun going up and down the "mountain". actually it is just a hill.

trying out the swing. it's just sad that he doesn't get to play with other kids. maybe because he still doesnt speak english. but heck, most of the kids here at the park are pinoys. or maybe because he is the new kid in town. maybe because he is still too small for their games. hayy...sad.

but even if he is the smallest in the bunch, he is the first to try this zip line. and he did it several times until his hands hurt and let go of the handle on his 5th try. you can see the video on the link i posted above. a 5 year old gets to try this the first time, and he let go and he hurt him self big time.


after lunch and some play time, we are headed to the aquatic centre. it's just a few steps from the park. the centre opens up at 1pm and there are already quite a number of people in line outside.

here's after the door has opened. people trying to get tickets. the centre only has a certain capacity and if they have reached that limit, no one is going to get inside unless somebody else comes out. and if you get out, you have to wait and pay again if you want to come in. drinks and food are not allowed inside. this indoor pool is quite popular you have to pre-purchased a ticket to make sure you can get inside.

here's what inside. on the right is still another pool, similar to an olympic size pool, though im not quite sure about that. but it's just a rectangular pool where one can do laps. on the left, there is a hot tub and a sauna. i tried both. the hot tub is really hot. the sauna is like being in a small room with galvanized iron as room on a 12noon in our beloved country, that's how i felt.

this facility is quite strict. there are several roving lifeguards and supevisors. kids 7 and below should be within arm's reach of an adult. and if you stray away from your kid, the supervisor/lifeguard will really approach you.

one is not allowed to swim without a proper swimming attire. cotton clothes are not allowed. kids who are not yet potty trained are required to wear swim diapers.

the hot tub should have a maximum of 13 persons only at a time and the sauna 15. and they are really checking it every 3 minutes or so.

once, there was a kid who almost vomitted in the pool, about a spoonful or so and but he actually caught it with his hands. but when the supervisor saw it and asked everybody to leave the pool at once and replaced the water. it took about an hour before they let everybody back in the pool. hence food and drinks, even infant's milk are not allowed.

after a couple of hours, we went out and enjoyed the park again. jason and i kept telling each other that it was good we get to enjoy the philippines heat and beach one last time before we get here in canada. imagine here, we have to fall in line just to be able to take dip and a splash and swim ???


since aquim has no one to play around, we just contented ourselves sitting on the grass, collecting twigs and branches. too good aquim still enjoys our company teehee.

we leave the park around 630 and slept the entire trip back to our hosts' house. and slept more once we get to the house.

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pink shirt day

http://www.pinkshirtday.ca/

this may be a little bit late, nonetheless, i'd still like to post this.

Pink Shirt Day started in a Nova Scotia high school, where a 9th grade boy was being bullied over wearing a pink polo shirt to school. A couple of grade 12 boys decided to take a stand against the bullying and wear pink in sympathy for the boy who had been so mercilessly prodded at. They went to a local discount store and bought 50 pink shirts, and distributed them amongst the other boys in their high school. They stood up for their fellow classmate and against the bullies, and made a real difference in someone's life. ~~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/nimil/4516218810/

David Shepherd, Travis Price and their teenage friends organized a high-school protest to wear pink in sympathy with a Grade 9 boy who was being bullied…[They] took a stand against bullying when they protested against the harassment of a new Grade 9 student by distributing pink T-shirts to all the boys in their school. ~~ http://www.pinkshirtday.ca/

bullying: in cyberworld

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7691940@N06/456786390/

Cyber-bullying

Cyber-bullying is the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behaviour by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others; that is when the Internet, cell phones or other devices are used to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person.

Cyber-bullying can be as simple as continuing to send e-mail to someone who has said they want no further contact with the sender, but it may also include threats, sexual remarks, pejorative labels (i.e., hate speech), ganging up on victims by making them the subject of ridicule in forums, and posting false statements as fact aimed at humiliation.

Unlike physical bullying, electronic bullies can remain virtually anonymous using temporary email accounts, pseudonyms in chat rooms, instant messaging programs, cell-phone text messaging, and other Internet venues to mask their identity; this perhaps frees them from normative and social constraints on their behavior.

Furthermore, cyber-bullies might be emboldened when using electronic means to carry out their antagonistic agenda because it takes less energy and courage to express hurtful comments using a keypad or a keyboard than with one’s voice.

Cyberstalkers use posts, forums, journals and other online means to present a victim in a false and unflattering light. The question of liability for harassment and character assassination is particularly salient to legislative protection since the original authors of the offending material are, more often than not, not only anonymous, but untraceable.

useful link: http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/
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bullying: at workplace

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nimil/4476645306/

Workplace bullying

It is the tendency of individuals or groups to use persistent aggressive or unreasonable behaviour against a co-worker or subordinate.

Workplace bullying can include such tactics as verbal, nonverbal, psychological, physical abuse and humiliation.

Workplace bullies often operate within the established rules and policies of their organization and their society.

Forms of Workplace Bullying

1. Serial bullying — the source of all dysfunction can be traced to one individual, who picks on one employee after another and destroys them, then moves on. Probably the most common type of bullying.

2. Secondary bullying — the pressure of having to deal with a serial bully causes the general behaviour to decline and sink to the lowest level.

3. Pair bullying — this takes place with two people, one active and verbal, the other often watching and listening.

4. Gang bullying or group bullying — is a serial bully with colleagues. Gangs can occur anywhere, but flourish in corporate bullying climates. It is often called mobbing and usually involves scapegoating and victimisation.

5. Vicarious bullying — two parties are encouraged to fight. This is the typical "Triangulation" where the aggression gets passed around.

6. Regulation bullying — where a serial bully forces their target to comply with rules, regulations, procedures or laws regardless of their appropriateness, applicability or necessity.

7. Residual bullying — after the serial bully has left or been fired, the behavior continues. It can go on for years.

8. Legal bullying — the bringing of a vexatious legal action to control and punish a person. It is one of the nastiest forms of bullying.

9. Pressure bullying or unwitting bullying — having to work to unrealistic time scales and/or inadequate resources.

10. Corporate bullying — where an employer abuses an employee with impunity, knowing the law is weak and the job market is soft.

11. Organizational bullying — a combination of pressure bullying and corporate bullying. Occurs when an organization struggles to adapt to changing markets, reduced income, cuts in budgets, imposed expectations and other extreme pressures.

12. Institutional bullying — entrenched and is accepted as part of the culture.

13. Client bullying — an employee is bullied by those they serve, for instance subway attendants or public servants.


Examples of workplace bullying tactics

1. Making someone and/or other people feel unwelcome and not letting them join in e.g. being in a clique and cliquey behaviors and being snobby and/or elitist. Another hurtful form of unwelcomeness is vilification.

2. Unkind remarks about someone's family, lifestyle, body, appearance, shape, weight, clothes and their personal life.

3. Invasion of privacy e.g. tampering with someone's personal effects, asking someone intrusive personal questions, e.g. about their love-life.

4. Being refused annual leave, sick leave and especially compassionate/bereavement leave without a genuine and a fair reason why.

5. Being subjected and called to disciplinary hearings/meetings without absolute proof and when they are suddenly out of the blue and especially WITHOUT moral support e.g. a Union rep/parent/friend/trusted colleague/other trusted person with you.

6. Discrimination and/or unfair treatment to someone because of disability/medical condition/age/race/ethnicity/how they live and sensitive issues about someone e.g. HIV positive and sexual orientation e.g. gay/lesbian etc.

7. Spreading stories and/or lies about someone and/or his/her friends/family.

8. Deliberately withholding/giving out false information to make a competent worker look unprofessional and in order to make him/her fail.

9. Playing practical jokes on someone/telling jokes to someone which they do not like and if it makes them uncomfortable and when they and others are NOT laughing and they DO NOT find it funny (especially those based on sex, body and race).

10. Sexual harassment of any kind e.g. persistently asking out for dates/romances, touching/staring at someone's body, forcing/coercing to have sex,(especially private areas), displaying explicit/pornographic pictures, cartoons, DVDs, videos, saying sexual comments and any unwanted touches (that the person isn't comfortable with) e.g. brushing against, hugging, kissing, patting, catcalls, wolf-whistling etc.

11. Beware of terms of endearment as not everyone likes them e.g. even terms like Dear, sweetheart, chick, babe, honey, hun, baby, babycakes, lovey, etc. CAN be offensive/uncomfortable to some people.

12. Harassment/stalking e.g. following the person around, always hanging around outside his/her home and/or workplace, favourite haunts like their local pub, shops etc.

13. Persistently emailing, phoning up, text messaging, writing typed/handwritten letters, Instant messaging, Facebooking, and looking at someone's personal and confidential information/giving out personal and confidential information without consent.


useful link: http://www.workplacebullying.org/
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bullying: in school

http://www.flickr.com/photos/anttyblog/4038267899/

School bullying

Bullying in school sometimes consists of a group of students taking advantage of or isolating one student in particular and gaining the loyalty of bystanders who want to avoid becoming the next victim.

These bullies taunt and tease their target before physically bullying the target. Targets of bullying in school are often pupils who are considered strange or different by their peers to begin with, making the situation harder for them to deal with.

Bullying in school and the workplace is also referred to as peer abuse.It is even a common push factor in migration.

useful links:
http://www.projectrockit.com.au/
http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/
http://www.teachersandfamilies.com/index.html
http://www.theritejourney.com.au/
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bullying: categories and types

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaceyf/4239673154/

two categories

Direct bullying, and indirect bullying which is also known as social aggression.

Direct bullying involves a great deal of physical aggression such as shoving and poking, throwing things, slapping, choking, punching and kicking, beating, stabbing, pulling hair, scratching, biting, scraping and pinching.

Social aggression or indirect bullying is characterized by threatening the victim into social isolation. This isolation is achieved through a wide variety of techniques, including spreading gossip, refusing to socialize with the victim, bullying other people who wish to socialize with the victim, and criticizing the victim's manner of dress and other socially-significant markers (including the victim's race, religion, disability, etc).

Other forms of indirect bullying which are more subtle and more likely to be verbal, such as name calling, the silent treatment, arguing others into submission, manipulation, gossip/false gossip, lies, rumors/false rumors, staring, giggling, laughing at the victim, saying certain words that trigger a reaction from a past event, and mocking.

types of bullying

1. School bullying

2. Workplace bullying

3. Cyber bullying

4. Political bullying

5. Military bullying

6. Hazing

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bullying: all about the bullies

http://www.flickr.com/photos/justinaerni/2802857314/

all about bullies

Bullies may behave this way to be perceived as popular or tough or to get attention. They may bully out of jealousy or be acting out because they themselves are bullied.

Research indicates that adults who bully have personalities that are authoritatian, combined with a strong need to control or dominate. It has also been suggested that a prejudicial view of subordinates can be particular a risk factor.

Further studies have shown that envy and resentment may be motives for bullying. While some bullies are arrogant and narcissistic, others can use bullying as a tool to conceal shame or anxiety or to boost self esteem: by demeaning others, the abuser him/herself feels empowered.

Researchers have identified other risk factors such as depression and personality disorders, as well as quickness to anger and use of force, addiction to aggressive behaviors, mistaking other's actions as hostile, concern with preserving self image and engaging in obsessive or rigid actions.

Bullies are deeply prejudiced but at the same time sufficiently devious to not reveal their prejudices to the extent that they contravene laws on harassment and discrimination. It is often suggested that bullying behavior has its origin in childhood.

Bullies react aggressively in response to provocation or perceived insults or slights. It is unclear whether their acts of bullying give them pleasure or are just the most effective way they have learned to get what they want from others.

Similar to manipulators, however, psychopathic bullies do not feel remorse, guilt, or empathy. They lack insight into their own behaviour, and seem unwilling or unable to moderate it.

Bullies have deep seated psychological problems, including feelings of inferiority or inadequacy and difficulty in relating to others. Some may simply have learned at an early stage that their size, strength, or verbal talent was the only effective tool they had for social behaviour.

But the psychopathic bully is what he is: a callous, vindictive, controlling individual with little or no empathy or concern for the rights and feelings of the victim, no matter what the context.
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bullying: definition

from http://www.johnnygoodtimes.com

here's something that i would not want aquim to experience. especially now that we are going to start another chapter of our lives.

all from wikipedia.

define bullying
Bullying is a form of abuse. It comprises repeated acts over time that involves a real or perceived imbalance of power with the more powerful individual or group abusing those who are less powerful. The power imbalance may be social power and/or physical power. The victim of bullying is sometimes referred to as a target.

Bullying is an act of repeated aggressive behavior in order to intentionally hurt another person, physically or mentally. Bullying is characterized by an individual behaving in a certain way to gain power over another person.

Bullying consists of three basic types of abuse - emotional, verbal and physical. It typically involves subtle methods of coercion such as psychological manipulation.

Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics.

Bullying behavior may include name calling, verbal or written abuse, exclusion from activities, exclusion from social situations, physical abuse, or coercion.
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