Bully

*prepare for a rant...and not one based on my own kids but a show I watched about bullying, the more I thought about it, the madder I got.


I want to talk about what I am seeing as the "latest thing" in childcare/school, the anti-bullying movement. To be clear, I applaud the efforts of parents, teachers and kids themselves for taking the time to step back and actually PAY attention to something that has been going on since...oh, the beginning of time! There are those that take it to the extreme and are so mean to others (I think the people that this happens to are definitely victims and often have other underlying issues.), usually because they are using it to fulfill some void within themselves, that it drives a person...well crazy. Crazy to the point where they do something extreme, either to themselves or to others.

On the other hand, there is what I view as a sort of "healthy" bully. Someone who might keep us on our toes, teaches us to overcome conflict, stand up for themselves, inspiring self-reliance and eventually confidence after the conflict is resolved. Children are honest, brutally honest. I got the fact that I had super thick ugly glasses pointed out to me on a daily basis as a kid. How did I resolve that? Well, for a while, it bothered me but as I got older I quipped "nice observation", shutting down the comments.

What I am really concerned about is people can't seem to tell the difference anymore. The people in charge are taking everything to such extremes that a simple comment can cause the speaker to be in serious trouble, and the witness or 'victim' to never have to learn how to actually handle a situation on their own. Is that what we really want out of our children? To always come running to us to save them at every single incident? Of course the momma bear in me says YES! I will do anything for my children, anything to keep them safe from hurt and harm, but I know I have to draw the line and let them learn on their own. It can't be good for society to have a bunch of mamby-pambies running the place. We hear all the time about complaints about Generation X Y Z from the Baby-boomers...well, news flash YOU created this mess! Now the question is? Can it be fixed?

I think so, I try my hardest to have my kids NOT be the bully, to treat others the way they want to be treated. Take a stand when there is someone they see getting picked on. If everyone did it with their kids and made it a constant conversation in their homes, one side of it would be solved. Childhood is a tough learning experience, so if we have a combination of letting kids be kids, along with looking out for the other guy...a balance can be achieved.