Item on abusive behavior is in the wrong section

[dbooth-boston]

This item on abusive behavior is currently in section 3.1 Expected Behavior:

Do not accept or engage in abusive behavior in any form, whether it is verbal, physical, sexual, or implied.

But since it is really about what should NOT be done, it would belong better in section 3.2 Unacceptable Behavior . I suggest moving it to 3.2 after item 6 and shortening it to:

Abusive behavior in any form, whether it is verbal, physical, sexual, or implied.

[TzviyaSiegman]

While this is phrased in the negative, it is in fact a positive behavior to not accept abusive behavior. This bullet is about mindset, not about action. I disagree with moving it.

[cwilso]

I don't think it is phrased in the negative at all - the object of this sentence is not on the abusive behavior, it is on the acceptance of such. It is a clear direction that (positive) expected behavior includes not tacitly accepting negative behavior.

I think 3.2 already clearly covers a wealth of types of abusive behavior.

[dbooth-boston]

This bullet is about mindset, not about action.

I don't understand that interpretation. The bullet says "Do not . . . engage in abusive behavior". "Engage in" is about taking action -- not merely intent. For example, if people engage in something illegal they are not merely thinking about it, they are taking action.

I don't think it is phrased in the negative at all

It is literally phrased in the negative: "Do not . . . ." But I like your point about not tacitly accepting negative behavior.

As written, that bullet covers two things:

• Engaging in abusive behavior. This element clearly belongs in the Unacceptable Behaviors section.

• Accepting abusive behavior. This element probably falls short of being outright "unacceptable". Nonetheless people practicing best behavior should not accept abusive behavior, i.e., they should reject it. Notice also that they should reject all kinds of unacceptable behavior -- not merely abusive behavior. But abusive behavior is the only one currently mentioned here.

Perhaps the main problem is that the "accepting" element gets overshadowed when the "engaging in" element is included. If the group thinks that the "accepting" element is the one that should be emphasized -- as Chris and Tzviya seem to suggest -- how about rephrasing the bullet as:

Reject unacceptable behavior in any form, whether it is verbal, physical, sexual, or implied.