Posted on 03/23/2008 11:35:01 PM PDT by balch3
Agreed, but learning a discipline such as box or karate can give a kid a great deal of self-confidence, which can be a force that prevents conflicts as surely as anything else.
uh oh! Some government school defender will feel **personally** insulted. :-)
Wow! I thought I was harsh! ( Sitting here laughing!)
Bravo!!
Good advice anytime.
Regards,
My youngest was being bullied at school and we tried all of the recommended methods, talking with the parent, the teachers, the principal and superintendent. Nothing happened until his older brother cornered the two bullies on the schoolground and told them to knock it off or they would deal with him. The bullying ceased immediately. Sometimes the recommended channels do nothing. Some people respond only to serious promises of bodily harm if they continue their present course.
And a couple of well-taped rolls of quarters (after all, brass knucks are illegal, but a roll of quarters is almost as good...).
How can anyone with even one brain cell defend the shoool system funded with public money?
We had a problem soon after moving to a new place. Our son was in first grade. In the fall, when the weather was nice, I would take the baby and we would all wait together at the bus stop. When the weather turned chilly, one of the other moms told me not to bring the baby out, she was always there to watch the kids.
Several weeks later, Derrick started complaining that a little girl was kicking him and stuff. The kid had a tendency to exaggerate, and of course, that mom was there, so I didn't pay much attention at first.
Well, he kept complaining. So one morning I told him I'd watch out the window. It was too far, really, to see out the window, so I got the video camera and zoomed in really far and taped it. I still couldn't see in real time, but after the bus pulled away, I put the tape in the VCR to see if it was watchable.
It was all right there. Derrick was standing off by himself a little bit and over walks this little girl who started kicking him in the shins. The older brother stood and watched the whole thing, just waiting for Derrick to raise a hand to his sister so he could get in on it too.
I immediately called the school. I spoke to the parents, and threatened both kids when they got off the bus that afternoon. I started driving Derrick to school after that.
But what really bugged me is what happened to the mom who said she'd be there watching the kids?
A couple of days after I started driving Derrick to school, she stopped me one morning. She explained that those two children had been so horrible, so vicious to Derrick that SHE just couldn't stand it anymore. Instead of saying anything to me, she just stopped going to the bus stop. Now she was very upset because without Derrick as a target, the kids were targeting her own girls.
Up until we moved, we had lived in navy housing for years. We knew all the kids, all the parents. With the exception of one kid who was a brat and his clueless mom, all of us parents were on top of our kids, making sure they were playing nicely and removing them when they didn't.
I think this whole episode baffled Derrick. He wasn't used to kids who weren't "nice". He wasn't used to adults who stood by and did nothing.
I sometimes wonder what he was thinking that day. I'd told him I would watch out of the window, and there he was, getting kicked and punched, and I did nothing to come out and stop it. I explained later how I wasn't able to really see what was happening. But I'm not sure that was much comfort.
I was bullied when I was young. Three kids followed me every day (2 girls and a boy). They would hit me and kick me. I was only 5...I finally picked up a stick and started swinging.
They never bothered me after that
> learning a discipline such as box or karate can give a kid a great deal of self-confidence,
It can. So can any number of other activities. The trick is finding a physical activity the kid is good at, and enjoys — and then indulge that.
Boxing & Karate — they are good, but don’t make the mistake of believing that they will teach kids anything useful in a fight: because they won’t. They can teach lots of other things, like self-confidence and self-discipline, which are virtues in themselves.
Good people skills are an extremely effective weapon.
> which can be a force that prevents conflicts as surely as anything else.
Conflicts and other crimes, too. Most people who get mugged are 1) unaware of their surroundings and 2) do not appear self confident and 3) moving slowly and aimlessly or looking nervous.
Two or three would gang up on me when I was in middle school because I was a small white boy and they, of course, were cowards.
Now of course I have put on much more muscle and have honed my fighting techniques.
Give me 5 minutes with that kid and I can end his problems and the cowards would leave him alone after that. Sounds brutal but this is the real world.
When I was a kid we had a bully on our block who was bigger than me. He would pick on me, give me bloody noses and whatnot. Then one day I decided to get back at him with a billy club. Funny he ran home and told his mommy.
That ended it.
yep, did the same with my son.
The way I showed my son how to fight was to take him to boxing matches.
That dispelled all "myths" about static posing, throwing a punch and somehow getting standing while each opponent yaks to each other.
He also saw that the "winner" sometimes looks pretty bad.
The other thing is that if "bullied" in school, he tell the teacher/coach whatever....... cause they only see the second punch, never the punch that started it. Otherwise both kids get suspended/dismissed and each looks like a thug. ..
Then I pass on the fact that elbows, knees and only as a last resort hands are used to strike. My son has only been "bullied" twice. Once at a bus stop and the other in PE, but it always helps to be able to defend yourself.
Bullies by nature are cowards and like easy targets. The problem some kids have is that they want to fight, but can't and this is what "builds up" leading to the "baseball bat" overkill..... or gun.
I'm old and the way we "settled" things was for the coach to put gloves on and duke it out till each has had enough. Shake hands and move on. You didn't have to love each other, but when the fight was over, it was over and if you did it again....... the paddle and a call to your parents was next.
I am so fed up with this stuff! At this point, our society will be no better than that of Africa.
As pointed out by another poster, the bullies have experience with Karate too! Also, Karate is not especially helpful when bullies run in packs, nor will it prevent Internet bullying. Also,... As a woman who attended a Prussian-style, brick and mortar school, I testify that Karate is completely useless when it comes to Alpha-girl bullying!
When will parents finally realize that government schools teach prison “socialization”. And,,,That nearly all of the prison survival skills learned in these prison-like schools **must** be unlearned if they are to have success in the real world of business, family, marriage, and community.
Children correctly feel abandoned by the adults who are sending them into this **toxic** environment. They feel abandoned because they ARE abandoned. Geeze! Is it any wonder we have a generation gap?
Homeschooling is the most natural and healthy way to raise a child.
What do my fellow freepers think of this hypothesis:
Kids are being trained that they have to just be victims, and on the flip side, that thuggery will not be punished,
in order to get them used to the idea that those with the most political power can, will, and should control every aspect of their lives - ie, getting them used to what it will be like if the left gets what they want.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Easy! They are feeding off the government school swill! Oink! Oink!
Sadly, in my county the government schools are the biggest single employer in the county! How do you fight that?
Great post!
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