D
Dally
Guest
JMW wrote:
> I can only give you my own parenting experience. Our oldest boy was
> pretty small for his age, but he had a bit a mouth on him, so he got
> picked on a lot in elementary school. He learned to keep his mouth
> shut in junior high school, but by that time, he had become a target
> for bullies. I spoke with the school administration, but nothing
> happened; they were aware of the bullying, but they said they were
> limited in what they could do.
>
> Fortunately, our boy had been training in martial arts for a while and
> was gaining some proficiency. He had never fought back before, but
> one day, immediately after he got off the school bus, some of the
> regular bullies prompted another kid to attack him, and our boy fought
> back. He beat the other kid and the regular bullies were a bit
> surprised. The bus driver saw the whole thing, and both boys were
> suspended from school for a day.
>
> I then wrote a letter to the administration, explaining that we
> understood that fighting is universally unacceptable while children
> are under the school's custody and control, and that our boy would
> accept the punishment. I added, however, that if he was ever again
> required to defend himself while under the school's custody and
> control, we would appeal any sanction before the school board, and if
> necessary, in the courts, and the sole basis of that appeal would be
> the administration's inability to deal with a known problem which had
> been brought to their attention repeatedly.
>
> After that, the bullies knew that our boy would fight back if
> attacked, and the school administration knew that we would defend his
> actions. There were no further problems.
I really like this answer. The older kids are proficient in karate and
we are immersed in the dojo culture, so we could probably go this route.
Dally
> I can only give you my own parenting experience. Our oldest boy was
> pretty small for his age, but he had a bit a mouth on him, so he got
> picked on a lot in elementary school. He learned to keep his mouth
> shut in junior high school, but by that time, he had become a target
> for bullies. I spoke with the school administration, but nothing
> happened; they were aware of the bullying, but they said they were
> limited in what they could do.
>
> Fortunately, our boy had been training in martial arts for a while and
> was gaining some proficiency. He had never fought back before, but
> one day, immediately after he got off the school bus, some of the
> regular bullies prompted another kid to attack him, and our boy fought
> back. He beat the other kid and the regular bullies were a bit
> surprised. The bus driver saw the whole thing, and both boys were
> suspended from school for a day.
>
> I then wrote a letter to the administration, explaining that we
> understood that fighting is universally unacceptable while children
> are under the school's custody and control, and that our boy would
> accept the punishment. I added, however, that if he was ever again
> required to defend himself while under the school's custody and
> control, we would appeal any sanction before the school board, and if
> necessary, in the courts, and the sole basis of that appeal would be
> the administration's inability to deal with a known problem which had
> been brought to their attention repeatedly.
>
> After that, the bullies knew that our boy would fight back if
> attacked, and the school administration knew that we would defend his
> actions. There were no further problems.
I really like this answer. The older kids are proficient in karate and
we are immersed in the dojo culture, so we could probably go this route.
Dally