70. "I was only kidding!" Sarcasm, a form of bullying!
I very recently read a comment from a woman in Dear Abby, in our local paper. She wrote: You said in your Nov. 14 column on bullying that you hadn't received a single letter from anyone who had bullied others. Well I was a bully. As a young girl I'd tease and taunt, and when I was older, I used sarcasm as a way to bully. I was involved in an abusive relationship in my 20s. With support and counseling, I was able to stop being abused and being abusive. I learned the feelings I had repressed -- shame, fear and low self-worth from a childhood of abuse, were misdirected at the people around me instead of at my abuser, as they should have been. I read an article in the Ensign Magazine, in August, 2013, which really impressed me. I have occasionally used sarcasm, and also had it used on me, and I've seen it do a lot of damage to other's self confidence. Below are excerpts from this article called "No Corrupt Communication", by Jennifer Graces Jon