Bullying Can Be Stopped By Anyone

When I was a kid and I complained to my Dad that another kid was bullying me, he gave me a piece of advice that I took to heart.  "Pick up a stick and knock his lights out."  He was not using a metaphor either.  The sooner a child learns to resist a bully, the more prepared they will be for the aggressive workplace, social circles, or practice field.  Bullies only mess with the weak or sometimes those who appear to be a target.

Even a tiny wasp can put a grown man to flight and any resistance from someone a bully has targeted gets very old, very quickly to the bully.  Now, you may have to take a licking, but you can get in a few wasp stings of your own if you are mentally prepared to resist.

Another strategy that I actually saw work, but don't recommend is to go on the offensive against a bully and seek them out to "sting" them.  I saw this in the 10th grade and the third time the bullying victim sought out and openly provoked the bully who had attacked him two days before, the bully called a truce.  It got old very quickly and he rightly surmised the victim would continue to confront him in front of everyone.

I never picked up a stick.  I learned to defend myself and along the way, moving from city to city, as my Dad was what was called a job shopper, I got in a fight every single time I was singled out as the new kid.  The very instant someone tried to bully me, I fought back.  In 1972 I took my first karate lesson and never got in another fight, but I sure as h#ll know how to back down a bully and have many times since - but the bottom line is I am darned prepared to back it up.

Another thing is bullying in the workplace, at the gym, in organized sports, social circles, etc. goes on and will go on all your life.   Some of it is subtle, some is outright physical, so prepare yourself and your children to deal with it.  The sooner, the better.

Bert Marshall 1993 Flying Dragon Song Moo Kwan