The Grey Bruce Public Health Manager is concerned about growing incidents of bullying targeting residents and their families after a positive COVID-19 test.
Ian Reich bullying should not be tolerated as the impacts can be extreme no matter the age of the victim.
He points out nobody typically tries to get COVID-19, and nobody deserves bullying as a result
He asks the community to act out of love, compassion, sympathy, and empathy, instead of leaning on misunderstanding and frustration.
In a letter to the editor, he said Grey Bruce is doing fantastic to work together to ensure we are successful. I do want to congratulate everyone for helping to ensure success in regards to COVID-19. Saying that, we must always identify challenges, and ways we can improve the situation even more, especially with us moving in to a potential second wave.
The letter continued:
Let us put ourselves in the shoes of a family that gets the phone call; “you are positive for COVID-19”. Let us imagine the emotions that we would feel with that diagnosis and the implications that it has on our family, friends, colleagues, work, income, and other potential supports. Imagine your child receiving a diagnosis and thinking about the potential impacts that it will have on their friends, school, bus, extracurricular activities and other families. Think of a teenager in an especially vulnerable stage of life and the life-altering impacts bullying would have on them.
We manage these calls regularly at the Health Unit. We listen to the hardships that families endure after their diagnoses. We hear the parents voice tremendous concern and helplessness when their children are ostracized or targeted. We hear from adults who share their stories of employment issues, lack of support, and being shunned for periods well beyond the period of communicability.
I want everyone to know, COVID-19 may come and go, but our actions during this difficult time will stay with us forever. I strongly urge:
You to think about your actions and words when you know someone is going through a diagnosis and recovery. Parents to talk openly with your children about the importance of kindness and understanding. Reach out to offer your support to other parents. Teachers to talk about this with their students and be watchful for bullying in the classroom or playground. When you see, stop it. Community leaders to speak out on the importance of acceptance, empathy, and kindness Everyone; stop bullying when you see it
We are in this together, and we must all lean on each other. Now is not the time to get angry and bully each other. Now is the time to carry each other through tough times, knowing that we may need to assistance, encouragement and support at some point in the future. Let us collectively fight this pandemic as a united community. The only way to do this is by understanding, and being sympathetic to each other's situation.
We have done fantastic so far during COVID-19, but these stories are becoming too common.
