Bully and Victim
The Oct 1, 2010 PBS NewsHour includes a segment on ‘bullying’ by and against young adults via the Internet.
In this PBS segment the victim of the harassment, also a young adult, escaped
the horror by taking his own life. The aggressor enters a new and permanent
stage in life dealing with, likely, 1. The Law, 2. Guilt, 3. Stigma.
Back during the late 1920s I was a victim of frequent bullying by a bigger kid on my way to school. He said
I owed him 2 cents. I didn’t have 2 cents. He pushed me around; one of his
blows knocked my new eyeglasses off. I couldn’t see where they were. I
panicked. I distinctly remember the flurry of my fists that warded off the
bully. Finding my eyeglasses was critical. Another kid soon found them and
handed them to me. The lenses were unbroken. I have no recollection of the
bully, the incident and its effects remain vivid.
Cruelty by children against other children is a family problem and an issue that calls for the attention of
educators and the community. yes””> See: Bullying: Facts for Schools and Parents at:
http://www.naspcenter.org/factsheets/bullying_fs.html
Mike Moldeven
My family moved frequently when I was a kid and not uncommonly, I was in a new school every September. Inevitably, there would be one or more bullies who wanted to take the measure of the new kid. My father made it very clear that I would not sit down for a month if I started a fight but there would b no punishment if I finished one as long as I made no attempt to deliberately permenantly injure an attacker. I quickly learned that standing up for myself gained the respect of the other kids and even if I intitially lost the fight, they would come to my defense after awhile. Most kids do not like bullies and will band together to take them down but most kids also despise crybabies and will not intervene to protect them. Teach kids to respond to bullies first by ignoring them, next by telling them to get lost and finally, if the bully throws the first punch, by hitting back hard, fast and often. They will usually find they are not alone and it is the bully who is forced on the defensive by the other kids.