My son was bullied after school one day this week. He walks to a neighbor's house after school and she saw it happen. So did another parent. The kid was confronted right away, scolded, and everyone went on their merry way. Both adults who saw it happen talked to Buddy to make sure he was okay. He said he was.
When I finally got to see him, he had forgotten about the incident. But we did talk about it for a long time and in the end, I knew he did the right thing (he yelled and yelled and yelled until he got an adult's attention). I know he's not scarred by the whole affair. He had his heros that day.
But his hero wasn't me. The child bullied was my own. I couldn't protect him from one of the things I fear most for him. I wasn't in control of his innocence and compassion. If this kid had asked nicely if he could please have Buddy's lunch money, and Buddy would have had anything on him, Buddy would have given it to him. His frustration was that the kid kept yelling to hand it over and not hearing Buddy say he didn't have anything to offer.
Two things: 1) Teach your children what to do if they get bullied. It's a scary moment when a bigger kid comes at yours, but please make sure they know what to do, who to tell, and when to deal with it. 2) If you have a child who has a history of picking on other kids, please make it stop.
Please.
Make it stop.
