Returns to Sioux City
Sioux City (IA) Journal
April 11, 2008
SIOUX CITY -- Dr. Gary Namie, nationally known workplace bullying advocate, will conduct a professional development session from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday at West High School, in partnership with the Waitt Institute for Violence Prevention. The session will be in the West High media center.
This is Namie's second visit to Sioux City.
In an earlier visit last October, he presented an all-day workshop sponsored by Western Iowa Tech Community College and the Waitt Foundation, and spoke at a noon luncheon for the business community.
Namie, cofounder of the Workplace Bullying Institute in Washington, along with his wife, Dr. Ruth Namie, is the author of "The Bully at Work."
West High Principal Jim Vanderloo, who helped organize the presentation with Dr. Alan Heisterkamp of the Waitt Institute, said school officials regularly discuss strategies to stop bullying and harassment behaviors in the school through the Mentors in Violence Prevention Strategies program.
"We've empowered our student leaders to have very frank and direct discussions on these topics within our freshman mentoring program," Vanderloo said. "Having Dr.Namie address our faculty and representatives from the entire school district on the importance of promoting a positive, healthy and constructive work environment can only increase the likelihood of our staff and faculty meeting their highest potential."
Heisterkamp said the Waitt Institute is pleased that Vanderloo is willing to do a follow up to Namie's fall visit to Sioux City
"Mr. Vanderloo has been a champion for our efforts to address school bullying," Heisterkamp said. "This is a great chance to continue our community dialogue and focus on preventing bullying, violence and harassment."
This is the Waitt Institute's third partnership with Namie and the Workplace Bullying Institute. Last September, they co-sponsored a national Zogby Poll to determine the prevalence of workplace bullying in the United States which among other findings showed that 37 percent of American workers, 54 million people, have been bullied at work. The poll has appeared in numerous national media outlets.
The Zogby survey's reception was pretty quiet back then, but it since has received renewed attention, said Cindy Waitt of the Waitt Institute.
"A new study came out out of the University of Manitoba that workplace bullying was more harmful than sexual harassment," she said. "Well, then what happened is that they went back and they found the poll. So it's been all over. ABC, they did a special on 'Good Morning America.' It's been in the New York Times."
About 45 percent of individuals targeted by bullies at work suffer stress-related health problems, according to the Zogby survey. Those health problems could include cardiovascular problems, an impaired immune system, debilitating anxiety and even post-traumatic stress disorder, Namie said.
