Tweet
As sad as it is, there is no other recourse.
Teach your kid to defend himself and you run the risk of a good kid getting suspended or expelled. This follows him throughout his schooling. If he hurts the bully bad enough then the parents are at risk of being sued. The schools now take the road of least liability, which usually runs hand in hand with ignorance.
Our oldest has had bullying problems for many years. My experience with it has shown me that the schools promise zero tolerance with bullying, yet do nothing in regards to helping the situation. He went silent with reporting the bullying because the end result was more aggressive bullying after a "stern talking to".
Fast forward to this year and our child gets elbowed as he pushes to get past the bully and on to the bus. This time he turns around and knees the kid. Sadly, he didn't connect with anything to stop him. The bully then squarely punches him in the face, knocks his glasses off, and steps on them. The school decides it's best to talk to the bully's parents, but not us. Our son had to tell us what happened.
We had to camp the office for 45 minutes until someone finally got the courage to answer to us. The excuses that followed nearly sent me into rage. However, I kept my self composed enough to not utter a single cuss word while chastising them for failing our son, again. I also told them that I have no issues with teaching him how to defend himself.
Jenn doesn't like my tactics, though. I understand her worries, but our son isn't built to withstand a toe to toe brawl. He needs to learn the "equalizing" maneuvers. I have also explained the responsibilities of such actions and what he could potentially be faced with if he didn't have some restraint in utilizing them.
Teach your kid to defend himself and you run the risk of a good kid getting suspended or expelled. This follows him throughout his schooling. If he hurts the bully bad enough then the parents are at risk of being sued. The schools now take the road of least liability, which usually runs hand in hand with ignorance.
Our oldest has had bullying problems for many years. My experience with it has shown me that the schools promise zero tolerance with bullying, yet do nothing in regards to helping the situation. He went silent with reporting the bullying because the end result was more aggressive bullying after a "stern talking to".
Fast forward to this year and our child gets elbowed as he pushes to get past the bully and on to the bus. This time he turns around and knees the kid. Sadly, he didn't connect with anything to stop him. The bully then squarely punches him in the face, knocks his glasses off, and steps on them. The school decides it's best to talk to the bully's parents, but not us. Our son had to tell us what happened.
We had to camp the office for 45 minutes until someone finally got the courage to answer to us. The excuses that followed nearly sent me into rage. However, I kept my self composed enough to not utter a single cuss word while chastising them for failing our son, again. I also told them that I have no issues with teaching him how to defend himself.
Jenn doesn't like my tactics, though. I understand her worries, but our son isn't built to withstand a toe to toe brawl. He needs to learn the "equalizing" maneuvers. I have also explained the responsibilities of such actions and what he could potentially be faced with if he didn't have some restraint in utilizing them.
Comment