Please visit StopBullying for more information about what you can do in your communities and schools or with your kids to stop bullying. Thanks to my sister Carrie for directing me to this link.
This one is a bit longer than the last one and I'm still working on my editing skills, so I apologize for any jumpiness. But please tell me what you think about the subject, the video, whatever. I love comments!
For reference, both Casey Heynes and Ritchard Gale (the body-slammer and bully, respectively) were suspended, due to a zero-tolerance policy. Gale, among others, had been picking on Heynes for years, and this time the poor kid just snapped. If nothing else, Gale learned a practical lesson about the physical capabilities of the people he chooses to pick on... Anyway, my approach when we were in school was always more of a 'give nothing back' style. If you try to be a jerk to me, I can win the fight before it even starts by just not caring at all about what you say. It can work because you make the bully feel childish, which they were already prone to or they wouldn't be picking on you to make you feel that way. On the other hand, that doesn't always work when the person being picked on might not have the capacity to avoid being incensed by provocation, or the bully decides to make it a physical fight right up front, like Gale did.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the parental side of things goes, I think you're right. Be aware of how your kid is around other people (talk to teachers, friend's parents, etc.)If you think your kid's a bully, teach him/her how little you think of people who do that to other people. If you think he/she is bullied, it gets more complicated because the 'tell an adult' approach can leave them feeling like someone else is fighting their battles. I honestly don't know, it probably has to be more of a case-by-case type thing, because circumstances can be so different, and the circumstances matter quite a bit (i.e. Zero Tolerance Policies suck). There, now you have -my- rant.
Thank you for clearing that situation up. I should have done more research on that before I started blabing. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I tried the same approach when I got picked on at school, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. But I'm fairly defensive. I remeber my dad always telling me to not let people "get my goat" and I tried to stick to it.
I think the best thing parents can do if their kid is being bullied is to teach their children self love/respect/confidence so that they have the ability to stand up for them selves if need be or the ability to just ignore people because they know they're better than that.
And there's my rant. :)
It's cool. I actually had just happened to read an article on it a few days before I read your post, so I just remembered how it ended up.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I remember you in school. Wasn't usually there when people tried to pick fights with you, but I think you were a bit more successful at shrugging it off than most. And on your last point: wholeheartedly agreed.
And there's my reasoned response. ಠ_ಠ