I was bullied some in grade school because I was smaller than some of the kids, and I was smart (or wise for my age). I look back on this in reference to the news reports of the school violence happening all over the country anymore.

I was all of 4'10" and about 100# when this was going on, and I did what my step-dad had told me to do - turn cheek and split if you can - if not, use the jiu-jitsu he taught me and then turn cheek and split. Worked every time.

There were other options - I very easily could've brought a nice big knife to school and skinned someone alive - luckily my contact through life with bright adults prevented that.

What was the bullying? Worthless crap brought on by bored kids. Usually I'd get chased all over the place during recess, before school, after school, etc. No one ever brought it to violence, as they had to catch me first and never did. At one point I started using the school doors directly in front of the admin office, if I had a problem I'd just be loud about it and problem solved.

The bullying in 4,5,6,7 (yep 4 years of this crap) from anyone who thought they could scare me finally stopped in grade 8. I stood up to a former friend of mine who pushed me to impress someone, gave the guy a good shove in the chest and put him over his heels onto his back. Nothing came of that back at me, and quite a few kids found better games to play in their boredom.

Until high school - after I ended up with my hair spit in and thrown in a nasty trash can headfirst in the beginning of my 9th grade year by a junior (who didn't have a shadow's chance of graduating - ever) I decided the office was the best place for me to bow out and go home. The idiot working the counter had no advice other than "you'd better get to class or you'll be absent", and needless to say I was absent for about 3 weeks.

After that, the Vice Principal came to my home unannounced one morning, and asked my mom and I why I wasn't in school. We had argued it out, and I wasn't going back to that school without beating someone senseless, or them actually doing their jobs and dealing with the actions of their students. He wasn't willing to pursue that, so I transferred to another High School about 10 miles away and took no crap from anyone ever again.

What students are facing today is more common than it used to be - teachers chosing teaching because they're lazy and don't want to "work" for their living. There are good teachers and bad - but when it comes down to seeing the problem signs and having channels to deal with it - we are still at a loss of options.

I still believe to this day that being your kids buddy, staying "cool" in their eyes, and being the person they can talk about anything with is more important than ever. Some parents brag that they don't care if their kids respect them or not, and this is a grave error. With respect, your kids might listen, and may even learn - just need to work on earning that respect. It can be a kick in the ego to think it has to be earned - but better to sit and listen and encourage than to post bail someday or worse.

THats why i have a baseball bat handy at all times regardless of how big you are.......The Bat might straighten BUllies out....... come on over Bully, Let me take that off your mind.....

one way to solve this problem is to stop funding the schools on attendance. the school would have no reason to keep the thugs and trouble makers in class. the students that want to learn could learn without distractions. i think it would help all way around, less money spent on allternative classes and guards in the schools. and it would help the bad kids get on with their life of crime.

It is very sad what goes on today, I dont want to open a can of worms or anything, but I feel alot of this is due to a total lack of dicipline, with the rules today and child protection breathing down your neck, it is almost imposible!! I got the paddle when I was a kid, and im still here, and ill tell ya what, I never did it again, my lesson was learned the hard way!!

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I fully agree with Poppy's statement above - schools should NOT be paid based on attendance.

Kids that obviously have "discipline disorders" should be dealt with and dealt with severely. I am totally sure that the nation has gotten enough of a wake-up call within the last 10 years or so to warrant this. Here's an example, the kid that thought it was funny to toss me in a trash can needed to be on grease-pit duty for the cafeteria for the rest of the school year.

For all the "feel good" crap the schools try to perpetuate, i.e. not failing kids because it would hurt them emotionally etc etc - this is what we've received in return. It is directly caused by the government being involved in the schools - can you imagine what govt control would do to health care in this country??!

My son spent most of the last school year on probation. Because he used one bully to bloody another bully. Granted he made the first contact, but only becuase he managed to keep just out of their grasp, long enough to grab one of them... then he used the one boy to hit the other with! The school actually has it on VIDEO!, But because he actually made the first contact, he got in trouble... Doesn't matter that one of them had hold of his shirt... Did you know that that is not considered physical contact?

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