The controversy over the unnamed woman who told her son he could use his martial arts training on a school bully is still raging in the Canadian papers and blogosphere. And it seems to me most people are siding with the woman, as I tend to do.
I noticed the original article was big on what not to do (hit back, expect the school to do anything about it), but short on solutions that would really work.
"Walk away"? The bully, and the crowd that gathered in hope of seeing a fight, will be right behind you.
"Talk your way out of it"? I once asked a tiresomely aggressive schoolmate what exactly would get her to stop tormenting me. She said, "I want you to get the h*** out of this school!"
Uh huh. This was in the 1970's, too early for homeschooling and too late for child labour.
I bet she wanted a flying pony, too.
You're not dealing with an adult here, or even a child mature enough for his age. He wants to hurt someone because it makes him feel good in some stupid way. You're not going to cut it off by saying, "Wow, you sure humiliated me! Let's stop now, shall we?"
Looking at it as a mother makes it a touchier subject. One of my sons is learning martial arts, and they've both got into fights at school from time to time without any "green light" from me. I don't think they were actually being bullied so much as, well, just getting into fights. If anyone attacked them physically, then yes, I'd want them to defend themselves.
Hard to believe there's a difference of opinion on this.
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