MilitaryForums.co.uk

I'm currently in the process of joining the British Army (Infantry) and I've seen a lot of recent reports of bullying. I know that the Army used to be rife with bullying and I'm just wondering if it still happens and the chances of it happening to me?

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/to ... ls-2259512

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7623567.stm

I have to admit I am now worried about this stuff happening especially after the Corporal who interviewed told me that there is a lot of extremely harsh "banter" in the Infantry. I can obviously take some sh*t otherwise I wouldn't be joining but I'm afraid of constant harsh verbal or physical abuse.

You do realise that BBC link you posted is from 2008, and the Mirror article is from 2013? Not exactly recent reports...

It's nowhere near as bad as you seem to think it is, and the guy in the Mirror article is likely to be exaggerating because they'll be paying him for his story.

There is a lot of banter, but you give as good as you get and you'l be fine. As you get to know each other, you work out where everybody's 'line' is (for example, not making 'your mum' jokes to somebody whose mum has died fairly recently!) and they work out where yours is. And if you're ever uncomfortable with something that's being said to you, or to somebody else, you say something. Some people may take longer to work out where other people's boundaries are or think it's funny to cross them, but that's when it's up to the more sensible people to step in before it goes too far.

When I was called up in the 1950's, what is now classed as bullying was just hard training. Back in those days you were trained to be a soldier in just ten weeks before you were sent of to action some where or other. These days training takes some six months, so it either means todays youths are not up to it or that the pressure on the little dears has eased.

There's a difference between hard training and bullying from the instructors though Tab.
It becomes bullying when one person is repeatedly singled out and treated differently from others - that's not on.

The other problem would be bullying from people who are supposed to be your peers, which is something I've experienced, and is NEVER justifiable. You're supposed to have each other's back.

Thanks for the responses, I tried asking questions at the Army Rumor Service but all I got was a load of bollocks and off topic responses.