16 MILLION A YEAR!
Written by Robert D. Sollars
The obvious question you’re asking is 16 million what? Dollars, cars, airline passengers, lost luggage, or what is that number representing? The resulting answer may shock you and your sensibilities…workplace & school violence, WPV/SV!
Yes, the number of violent incidents in this country that specifically occur in, or because of, businesses & educational organizations across the country every…single…year. Kind of amazing, isn’t it? You may be saying, you never hear of such things so how can there be so many and I never hear about them? The answer to that is simple and a little disturbing in certain respects.
If all the WPV/SV incidents were reported every year…the news would be filled with just that, no weather reports, sports scores, and the good, fluff, news stuff we’ve grown accustomed to, over the past 35 years or so, (and that we need to settle the bad news). The other reason is that does the media, local or regional want the entire country to know how troubling this issue is in their area of coverage? They’d rather tell you about coronavirus, how great the President is doing, or other news that can affect you better.
Why would they do that, you may be asking? The answer is also simple…we’ve become accustomed to celebrity news and fluff pieces for more than 35 years and it’s getting worse. But this isn’t a piece of the media coverage. Here is a list of what WPV/SV actually entails and you’ll see why it isn’t noted in the media very much;
- Verbal Tirades – do you really want to hear that some idiot is cussing out a store employee because they sold out or don’t have the coconut milk they need (or some other commodity), or the right cigarettes? These would also be called Verbal Assaults…and yes, they are assaults if the volume is venomous enough and enough spittle is flying. I’ve no doubts that you’ve heard such things while working or out and about and at your kids’ schools too.
- Physical Assaults – Again, do you really want to hear about all the fist fights at little Judy’s middle school on the news or vandalism at Johnny’s high school? Probably not.
How about the threatening, harassment, stalking, bullying, or other such items towards employees or students? No? Why not? They’re just as violent as any other form of physical violence…it makes many people look over their shoulders at strange noises and be paranoid about all sorts of things, possibly leading to mental illness, can we say mental or emotional trauma that can last for a lifetime?
- What about vandalism, arson, or other such things? These are just as important and it’s important to know why it was done. If it was done to upset and limit the operations of any organization, then it’s considered WPV/SV. Business windows, stealing computers, burning that “damned asshole alive is goods”, and a myriad of other reasons and explanations.
- Pointing lasers at helicopters & airplanes to blind or distract the pilots. That could very easily cause an air crash, with potentially hundreds of deaths.
- Speaking of airplanes…what about the number of flight crews verbally & physically abused or assaulted every day.
Then of course there are the law enforcement officers and nurses that are assaulted every day in this country. And to set you straight, it’s NOT in their job description and shouldn’t have to be expected to be either ignored or tolerated!
WPV/SV takes in a lot of different areas and not many realize the extent of it. What about soaking fruits & vegetables with bleach or something else. Possibly throwing rocks or ball bearings at security officers. Possibly the verbal tirades that front-line employees are forced to endure because of management decisions, ill-conceived or not?
16 million incidents every single year, nearly 1.5 million a month. 10% of the workforce in this country. If you count bullying, harassment, and other such crimes…that percentage grows to more than 50% of ALL AMERICAN WORKERS & STUDENTS.
It’s about time we start thinking about these incidents instead of the limited fantasy world we get on TV – including the so-called newscasts, newspapers, or movies. Focus and concentrate on the items that will directly, more than likely, affect YOU AND YOUR CO-WORKERS & KIDS!
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Copyright 2022 Robert D. Sollars
