Letter to the editor – about the link between gossip and bullying!…

Letter about the link between gossip and bullying!…
To the Editor,
It’s not what you see in small towns, or counties, it’s what you hear.
Google search Gossip & Bullying and you will find articles like this: “Gossip: The Most Insidious Form of Bullying” – LinkedIn; A Form Of Bullying: Gossip, Inuendo, And Group Participants; My small business is being bullied by a larger business; Bullying seniors is elder abuse.
“Gossip defined: casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details that are not confirmed as being true.
Bullying… One essential prerequisite is the perception of an imbalance of physical or social power. This imbalance distinguishes bullying from conflict. Bullying is… characterized by… hostile intent, imbalance of power, and repetition over a period of time…” -Wikipedia
If YOU are “sharing unconfirmed information” about another person or business, you are gossiping.
IF you are saying negative things about that person or business, or charging them more for the same product or service you would charge another person/business, and you are in a financial, physical, emotional, social, professional (including government employees) or business position that is superior to the person or business you are targeting by “sharing” negative information, or inflated pricing, repetitively over a period of time YOU ARE BULLYING that other person or business.
Beverly Sandin
Spring Valley, Minn.