WE GROW THROUGH CONFLICT
Ideally, we grow through conflict, but this is not always the case. We are often overwhelmed or destroyed by conflict: There are times when individuals try to exert control but lack the life-skills, confidence and resilience to deal with a very challenging situation and often the only way to resolve conflict is to draw attention to injustice. Robert Walker, was a typical indigenous prisoner, who died in custody at the Freemantle Jail. He was just 25 years of age and consumed by bitterness he slashed his wrists and was subsequently bludgeoned to death. As indigenous poet, Kevin Gilbert notes upon his death and the farcical autopsies, “he didn’t intend to die … his personality unerringly dictated that he protest his treatment, that he force someone to take notice”. Likewise refugees in detention centres also resort to passive-aggressive means of dealing with conflict because of their extreme sense of impotence. (quote) In Woomera Detention Centre, Barrister Julian Burnside describes the passive protests undertaken by refugees who may sew their lips, hang themselves, swallow shampoo to become ill. One Iranian refugee once wrote, “I have been in this cage for 13 months… Where should we seek justice? Aren’t we human beings? I don’t know what my crime is.” In the camp it is “common to witness young adults and even children to commit suicide.” “We are all taking depression tablets. Animals in Australia have more rights than we have.”
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However, adversity may provide a test of character and often helps individuals become resilient; they may be forced to think about their priorities or defend their principles and values. (ideas, and quotes, plus people story) In particular, those who are ridiculed or persecuted at school are often forced to withstand a great deal of scorn. In her book, “Don’t Peak at High School: From Bullied to A List” author Fiona Scott Norman states that “being bullied shaped these people”. Because they are often excluded by their peers, they “are forced to fall back on your own resources”. In her book, she profiles people like the disabled comedian Stella Young who was able to funnel years of intimidation and abuse into formidable life skills. As Stella herself says, because of her years of humiliation, she developed “a really high tolerance for offence”. She remembers how she was often singled out during lunch-times, becoming the butt of jokes. For example, her peers spread rumours that she was incontinent and wore nappies. She was horrified at “what people would think” but she gradually became much tougher and she was motivated by the fear of rejection.
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