We’ve all been there at one point or another. I don’t know a single person that can stand up and say that they were never bullied.
We thought it was just kids.
We thought it would get better after high school.
We thought that adults treated each other better.
But then we graduated, became adults, and were tossed out into the real world.
And suddenly we realized that we’d give anything to go back to the high school bullies.
The hard truth is that adults are so much worse than kids.
Adults have learned to hit where it really hurts, have the knowledge or funds to bully others through legal actions, and are able to hide behind a screen and bully people from around the world without being held accountable.
It’s a terrifying realization when you find that the adults who should know better, the adults who preach that we should be better, are, in fact, the very ones making death threats and bullying everyone else online.
Add in a hobby that a group of adults are passionate about, and the bullying is taken to a whole new level.
And rabbit people are far from the exception...
Over the past few weeks there has been nothing but drama in the Facebook rabbit world that all boils down to bullies.
Bullies that I used to respect. Bullies that friends and breeders know and recommended. Bullies that are supposed to be some of the best breeders in the COUNTRY.
Groups have split up, people are being kicked from Group A for belonging to Group B or C (and vice versa) and/or are being bullied and harassed for belonging to certain groups even though they do not personally associate with the owners of the groups.
I’ve seen the owners of groups create fake accounts so they can continue harassing people when the people finally get fed up and block one account or they're thrown in Facebook jail.
I’ve seen the owners of groups start smear campaigns against Groups B and C (etc) in their groups.
I’ve seen the owners of groups bully our YOUTH...the ones who will one day be taking over our “beloved” hobby.
And these are groups that pride themselves on helping and supporting their fellow breeders?
I am seeing nothing but division and hatred.
All of this is bad, but you know what makes it so much worse?
The group members who either encourage this bullying, support the ones bullying, or just don’t care.
And even worse yet are the ones who sit back and do/say nothing because they’re afraid that they’ll be the next one targeted.
These bullies will keep on bullying because they are receiving support and encouragement.
These bullies will keep on bullying because everyone else is too afraid to stand up and stop them.
Sounds like high school all over again.
I, for one, don’t care if you have the best rabbits in the world, I don’t care if you are the last breeder of a breed that I want, and I don’t care if your rabbits poop gold. Any breeder that bullies others has no respect, and no business, from me.
Being a great breeder does not give anyone the right to bully...ever. PERIOD.
And what if we all thought like that?
What if we all practiced what we preached?
What if we all said, ENOUGH, banded together and took a stand?
What if we all stopped supporting the bullies online and stopped supporting their businesses?
What if we all came alongside our fellow breeders and our youth breeders and encouraged them, supported them, and started teaching them that not all rabbit breeders are bullies?
How would the rabbit world change if we all started making small changes and started standing up to the bullies and started supporting the ones bullied?
I am finally saying ENOUGH.
I am going to come alongside my fellow breeders, the new breeders, and the youth breeders.
I am going to stand up and shout that not all breeders are bullies and keep telling you to never give up something you love because of them.
I am going to stand up and shout that I will support you.
This isn’t a problem that will be fixed by people sitting back and doing nothing.
And this isn’t a problem that will go away over night. .
But we must do better.
-Emily
We thought it was just kids.
We thought it would get better after high school.
We thought that adults treated each other better.
But then we graduated, became adults, and were tossed out into the real world.
And suddenly we realized that we’d give anything to go back to the high school bullies.
The hard truth is that adults are so much worse than kids.
Adults have learned to hit where it really hurts, have the knowledge or funds to bully others through legal actions, and are able to hide behind a screen and bully people from around the world without being held accountable.
It’s a terrifying realization when you find that the adults who should know better, the adults who preach that we should be better, are, in fact, the very ones making death threats and bullying everyone else online.
Add in a hobby that a group of adults are passionate about, and the bullying is taken to a whole new level.
And rabbit people are far from the exception...
Over the past few weeks there has been nothing but drama in the Facebook rabbit world that all boils down to bullies.
Bullies that I used to respect. Bullies that friends and breeders know and recommended. Bullies that are supposed to be some of the best breeders in the COUNTRY.
Groups have split up, people are being kicked from Group A for belonging to Group B or C (and vice versa) and/or are being bullied and harassed for belonging to certain groups even though they do not personally associate with the owners of the groups.
I’ve seen the owners of groups create fake accounts so they can continue harassing people when the people finally get fed up and block one account or they're thrown in Facebook jail.
I’ve seen the owners of groups start smear campaigns against Groups B and C (etc) in their groups.
I’ve seen the owners of groups bully our YOUTH...the ones who will one day be taking over our “beloved” hobby.
And these are groups that pride themselves on helping and supporting their fellow breeders?
I am seeing nothing but division and hatred.
All of this is bad, but you know what makes it so much worse?
The group members who either encourage this bullying, support the ones bullying, or just don’t care.
And even worse yet are the ones who sit back and do/say nothing because they’re afraid that they’ll be the next one targeted.
These bullies will keep on bullying because they are receiving support and encouragement.
These bullies will keep on bullying because everyone else is too afraid to stand up and stop them.
Sounds like high school all over again.
I, for one, don’t care if you have the best rabbits in the world, I don’t care if you are the last breeder of a breed that I want, and I don’t care if your rabbits poop gold. Any breeder that bullies others has no respect, and no business, from me.
Being a great breeder does not give anyone the right to bully...ever. PERIOD.
And what if we all thought like that?
What if we all practiced what we preached?
What if we all said, ENOUGH, banded together and took a stand?
What if we all stopped supporting the bullies online and stopped supporting their businesses?
What if we all came alongside our fellow breeders and our youth breeders and encouraged them, supported them, and started teaching them that not all rabbit breeders are bullies?
How would the rabbit world change if we all started making small changes and started standing up to the bullies and started supporting the ones bullied?
I am finally saying ENOUGH.
I am going to come alongside my fellow breeders, the new breeders, and the youth breeders.
I am going to stand up and shout that not all breeders are bullies and keep telling you to never give up something you love because of them.
I am going to stand up and shout that I will support you.
This isn’t a problem that will be fixed by people sitting back and doing nothing.
And this isn’t a problem that will go away over night. .
But we must do better.
-Emily