Bully 101

All parents, I suppose, worry about their kids being bothered by bullies. That is true, of course, assuming your kid is NOT the bully. Teaching our kids how to handle bullies is quite tricky. How do you teach your kid to survive and defend himself while making sure that he does not get the idea that to hurt another person is okay?

Bullying, I suppose, is quite prevalent an issue in schools as I was surprised that my son's teacher talked about it and told us about what they tell the boys.

The School's Version:

When a bully does something to you for the first time, look him in the eye and say: "You have no right to do that to me."

When a bully does something to you for the second time, look him in the eye and say: " You have no right to hurt me. The next time you do that, I'll do something to you."

When a bully does something to you for the third time, hit him back and then run and tell teacher or any adult.

A Shortened Version:

When a bully does something to you for the first time, look him in the eye and say: "You have no right to do that to me. You have no right to hurt me. The next time you do that, I'll do something to you."

When a bully does something to you for the second time, hit him already and then run and tell teacher or any adult.

Rationale for the Shortened Version: Why will you wait for three instances before hitting the bully back? Hitting back on the second instance will ensure that you still have some strength left and can still actually hit back. :-)

The important thing in all of these situations is to teach our kids never to be bullies and never to be the first to hit anyone. Everything must be done in defense. Then again, we ought to raise our kids properly so they don't turn out to be bullies. Happy weekend!