Blog Post #3

 "Critical family communication research pursues these commitments, as the name aptly suggests, within family contexts. In engaging with harmful norms, abuses of power, inequities, and contradictions, this research describes both what exists, and also what should (not) exist within families. Auto ethnographers use personal experience to describe and examine intersections between."- Berry and Adams " Family Bullying"

Family bullying seem to have always been people haven't acknowledged to be a problem. Because we as a society and with the family values we have are so key in having healthy, happy, families that are together. Because of that it seems like family bullying is something not really cared about. When I read this article it reminded me of a Youtube family that were once all over Youtube. they for a little while were a popular channel but then people started to notice the the verbal, sometimes physical abuse in the family. You would watch their videos and see the parents and their 4 kids. One was their youngest boy where time and time again you would see the parents yell at him for things that didn't happen. There would be times where either one of the brothers or even the dad would push and shove him and then everyone would just laugh. The family saw it as a joke and entertaining but Youtube saw it as abuse and took their channel down. The problem with family bullying is that it isn't seen as bullying because it's just family teasing each other. The one thing that really frustrated me when it comes to this article is the part where the author talked about how his cousin every time he saw him the cousin would beat him up. Throw him to the floor. punch him, kick him, wrestle him. Often the entire family would be in the same room watching this happen and never do anything about it because it didn't seem problematic. I am curious if there is a line from family teasing to bullying and abuse? That line seems blurred because families have a weird idea on what is or isn't okay sometimes. I believe with the newer generations we are more aware of mental health and acceptance that things like family bullying aren't as problematic. But that is not all cases, when will we get to a point when family bullying and school bullying are one in the same. Because being blood related or not the pain and anger hurt just as much then the other. Family might hurt even more because with school you can escape it. With Families you really can't. This article taught me a lot about what family bullying looked like so I could put a label on it and call it out. It also gave me some personal stories from those who experienced it and I was able to see how it was solved later down the road. Family bullying is something important to acknowledge and do something about. Because it is something that can be dangerous and we need to start noticing it and doing something about it.