School Bullies

Thank goodness none of my family were victims of bullies that I know about.

From what I have seen whilst at school and in work places bullies rarely carry out their threats, most of the time they are not capable. It seems that their solution to solving their own inferiority complex problems is to control others through something they are afraid of – fear.

If this is true, then the logical approach would be to fix the element that is broken ie the wiring in the bully’s head rather than create an environment so the effects of the bully’s behaviour have less impact on others.

The trouble is, there are too many do gooders who seem to be batting for the rights of the bully including the parents of the bully. The schools wish it wasn’t happening and tend to go into denial fearing an endless amount of paper work, legal implications and lesser promotional prospects (you were the teacher involved in that legal case about bullying that was in the newspapers – go away trouble maker).

The parents of the victims can’t stand around and watch their kids lead a miserable life with possible life long effects so they take the law into their own hands. Bashing the bully, physically separating the bully and victims etc.

This seems to be an issue that education departments and governments are paying lip service to and not addressing the problems long term. Perhaps convincing the politicians that fixing this problem will improve the god like economy might see some action, maybe make a link to terrorism – the enemy within our midst.

Until something thorough is done about this problem, I guess people with mental problems will continue to be bashed and tortured whilst seeking out other victims who cannot retaliate.

What becomes of the school yard bullies later in life, who knows – serial killers, rapists, paedophiles or perhaps politicians.

I had a kid picking me for weeks at school.
He started on me again during one lunchtime while I was eating my pie.
So he ended up with a four and twenty right in the face.
Then he beat me up.
Coupla days later I said I was sorry for poking the pie in his face, as I had to go without lunch that day. No troubles after that

My outlook is if you can't avoid a fight then inflict maximum pain,
Thats more important than winning the fight.
No one picks someone who will hurt them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Schtoo

That's mainly because too many parents here should be drowned at birth IMHO.

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Thats an interesting philosophical proposition, Schtoo, when you think about it.

I was wondering when someone was going to pick that up.

Kinda like the chicken and the egg, kinda... ;)

This is an issue I'm dreading as well from either side of the equation.

When I was 11 I was bullied at school and over a period of six months I went from one extreme to the other from bullied to bully. We need to be careful when preparing our kids for these situation that they do not go too far. I managed it all on my own as my parents were totally unaware I was being bullied as I was too embarrased to tell my Dad it was happening.

I think my daughter will handle it verbally by bringing them down a peg or two without resorting to violence. My son on the other hand is a little softer and I play rough and tumble with him regularly to try and avoid him suggesting he's getting bullied or hit when in fact it's just boisterous behaviour in the playground. I will also teach them to punch properly and I have already told them both that if someone hits them on purpose they should hit them back.

If self defence doesn't work I think we'll approach the school and then the parents and if I felt it (or me) was going to escalate out of hand I'd move them to another school. Whilst moving school would be a trauma the continued bullying could have worse short and long term affects. This decision would erk me considerably but it's not what's best for my ego it's about what's best for my kids in the short and long term, they go to school for an education after all both scholastic and social.

HH.

Don't think I can add much to this that hasn't already been said. Silent, you are obviously approaching thiswith a lot of thought, and I hope come up with the best result, if there is one.

While I don't advocate violence (especially if it's likely to be returned) I can think of two examples that have worked. At school, we had a sadistic teacher (even by the standards of the 1950s-60s). Despite requests from parents, the principal wouldn't believe a teacher could be so bad - never thought to ask sthe students. So one parent took his son, they marched into the principal's office unannounced and the kid dropped his strides to show his black & blue bum. The teacher was warned that he had gone too far, so he started using 'crowpecks' - a hard thump on the head with his knuckle. The first time he tried it on with this kid, the kid king-hit the teacher, then marched straight to the principal's office and announced what he'd done. The teacher was moved on, probably to some other unfortunate school.

In the army, I only ever saw one perpetrator of bastardry - a crummy corporal at that. One night, about a dozenm of us tied him to a flagpole naked. But as it was midwinter, we didn't want him to freeze, so we left him a blanket. Only a yard or so away. This could probably have had us shot for mutiny, but I suspect that the higher-ups knew what he was like and nothing was ever said.

I can remember a 'friend' who had a child who was very depressed due to bullying. He walked smiling up to the bully and said to him

"Bully again and i will sneak into your house and kill you"

No more bullying but often wonder how the bully ended up :o

Dazzler
at my son's school any kid who retaliates by thumping the bully is in as much if not more trouble than the bully.

The principle adopted is that the bully must mend their ways or leave the school

ian

Quote:

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Originally Posted by silentC

Thanks for the input one and all. At this point we are "monitoring the situation".

On bullies in general ...

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Silent,

these quotes come from the Education Department's web site

every student has the right to expect that he or she will spend the school day (both in and out of the classroom) free from bullying and intimidation.

Strategies to counter bullying form part of the school's implementation of the Student Welfare Policy.

all reported cases of bullying are invstigated

don't let your daughter's teacher shirk their responsibility


ian

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AlexS

At school, we had a sadistic teacher (even by the standards of the 1950s-60s).

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The worst example of bullying I ever saw was at school (same era, Alex). We had a woodwork/metalwork teacher who was an absolute bastard. He was a big, muscular, angry thug. He picked on a kid in my class who, in different circumstances, would have been a target for a bully amongst the students. However the treatment he received from the teacher was so bad that it generated plenty of sympathy amongst the rest of us - so he was never targeted by students.

Towards the end of my time at school, the teacher was refereeing a house Rugby match (of final year students, 17-18 year-olds). His behaviour in the preceding weeks had been so bad that all 30 players conspired to rough him up. We took turns during the match to deliberately hammer into him, rake him with studs, "accidentally" fend him off with a closed fist in the face, etc. Just before half-time, I managed to drive head first into his guts on a blind-side run around a scrum. By then he had got the message. He stopped the game, sent me off and told the rest of the players that he would "take serious action" against the next player that made contact with him.

At half-time, the headmaster had arrived to watch proceedings. He grilled me as to why I had been side-lined and I told him I had made accidental contact with the teacher. Immediately after half-time the biggest kid in the school, who was playing flank-forward for my team, collected the referee across the throat with an "accidental" coat-hanger. This kid was 6'-6" and about 14 stone. The teacher dropped like an empty sock and had to be taken to the sick room for treatment.

We all expected to be in trouble. Oddly, nothing was ever said.

Several years later, I ran across another teacher from the old school and he brought up the subject of that house match. He remembered I had been playing and that I was sent off. His comment about the bullying bastard was that he and his colleagues were surprised it had taken us so long to take revenge.

Darren, I hope you and your wife and daughter can work this out. My daughter, who is now 28, copped some bullying from a neighbour's son. My girl is a happy soul without a vicious bone in her body. The option of teaching her to hit back was never on. I confronted the kid who was doing the bullying - in front of his parents - and told him that if he so much as looked at my girl with a frown on his face, I would personally kick his @rse. His mother wasn't pleased but his father reacted quite well. The bullying stopped.

Two years ago, the same bloke had the bad luck to play football (Aussie Rules) on the opposing side to my daughter's little brother - who is actually not little at all. This was more than twelve years since the bullying had occurred but my son has a long memory. I didn't see the game but my son's mates tell me he delivered one of the best - entirely legal - shirtfronts they had seen. Revenge is a dish best eaten cold. My daughter pretended to be annoyed with her brother when she was told about it but we all know she was very proud.

Silent, with a very quite 7 year old girl of my own I can feel your pain.:mad:
As tempting as it is to vent my anger all over the key board, I'll refame and just add a couple of points.

1. Put your complaints in writting to the school and demand a response in kind. This is an instant notice to any offical that you are serious.

2. If no response from above, write directly to the parents.

3. Bullying is against the law. If the school fails in its duty of care to stop it, charge the bully with assault.

4. Allways try to keep the moral high ground, belting anyone will get you in a whole world of hurt.

Wow, what a subject!

I like Schtoo have kids here in Japan, now mine are a little older, 12 and 10, both lovely girls.

Yes we have had and still have problems with racists, simple minds. Straight up, we dealt with it.

The first time, my eldest, at the time about 8, was heckled all the way home from school, about a 10 minute walk. I was not around, when she came in, she was devastated, my wife was furious, I have never seen my lovely wife SO MAD, and I hope to never see it again :eek:

She called the school the next day, and the principal said he would talk to the boys. The four boys were all a year ahead of my daughter, but are actually smaller than her :rolleyes:.

Well the next day, they did it again, but this time I was waiting, when they turned the last corner, my wife and I were standing there.

I told the boys, in a very level, very cool voice, that if they EVER made my daughter cry again, I would make them cry.....for....a.....very......long....time.

One of the boys actually wet himself :D

Did not lay a finger on them, just talked.

We then went to the school, and I walked into the principals office and I shouted the ####er down so loud, that the rest of the staff where hiding under their desks, I told him that if this was not dealt with NOW, he would have some REAL trouble with me, and I would get MAD. I called him a coward and a liar, as he TOLD my wife he would take care of it.

The next day, the principal, the four boys, and four dads came to our shop and apologize to my daughter. We have not had a problem since.

I have to say, the most important thing we did, was to get involved at the school, my wife has been a member of the PTA for years now, and I go and help out all the time, at sports days etc. I know all the teachers, and they know me, I know most of the kids, and they know me.

This is really the best thing we can do, the kids know who we are, and the stories got around about what happened the last time one of my kids was bullied, so we are dealing with it.

I got bullied in school, my dad told me to punch the guy in the face and then put my head between my knees and kiss my ass goodbye :D

I took a few shots before we got pulled apart, but I gave the bully a bloody nose,　 and he did not bully me again. Then just to add to the whole "revenge is a dish best eaten cold" line of thought, a few years later, when we played (American) football together, same team, he was a running back, I was a defensive lineman, we got to do 3/4 speed tacking drills :D

I once hit him at the belt level, picked him up, and planted him in the ground, and then stepped on him when I got up....... of course by then I was about 85Kg and he was all of 60Kg.

Silent C, don't worry about stepping in on your daughter's behalf, yes she has to deal with some stuff herself, for sure, but you, sir, are her father, and you cannot do it wrong if you are defending her from physical harm, not in my book anyway, just do not leave any marks, or have any witnesses ;) :rolleyes:

Tough situation for sure, hope it works out.

Sorry for the longwinded reply!:o

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stu in Tokyo

I told the boys, in a very level, very cool voice, that if they EVER made my daughter cry again, I would make them cry.....for....a.....very......long....time.

One of the boys actually wet himself :D

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Stu, if you said that to me, I'd prolly wet myself too. :eek: :D

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Originally Posted by Schtoo

Stu, if you said that to me, I'd prolly wet myself too. :eek: :D

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Maybe when you were nine :rolleyes: :D

You know how they say "I'm going to hit you so hard your dog will bleed" well I tried to translate that once, to a Japanese friend......... wow, that was two hours well spent.....:rolleyes: Nope, he did not get it :D

How are you doing anyways Papa?

Cheers!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by knucklehead

1. Put your complaints in writting to the school and demand a response in kind. This is an instant notice to any offical that you are serious.

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Whilst I would advocate the other option, if you are going to do the above also sent a copy to the department's regional office and mark your letter to the school accordingly.

Amazing how quickly and efficiently a school principal will act when they realise that someone much more senior is being kept informed of their action.


Peter.

Most teachers will be doing the right thing, sometimes they just get given too much.
An "extra needs" student can be hard work, no control in class, hurting other students and then when removed to the principles office just keeps calling her an effing female dog. Sometimes this process of integrating these sorts of kids is all wrong.

IMO, "extra needs" students (your terms not mine), belong in an extra needs students school. That is the only way they have of fulfilling whatever potential their parents have allowed them. Bully kids will not stop. They might stop with the few who stand up to them but then they just find a weaker target.

Never rest on this issue Darren. If you have no joy with the teacher, go to the principal. If you have no joy with the principal, go the the next link and so on. Find out how to get in contact with his parents and follow up with them if you think you might acheive something with them. However, if he is a typical bully, his parents will probably just flog him and he'll be in a worse position than before.

I wish you well Silent. My eldest starts 3YO kinder next year :eek:

Dan

My only fear at the moment is that, because she didn't want us to go to the teacher, and then she saw us there talking to her, she may clam up now. She was all smiles yesterday. She has seven cousins at the same school, one is a boy in year 4. I'm going to have a chat to him on the weekend and get him to keep an eye on her. I said to the missus maybe we should get him and a couple of his mates to pay young Reece a visit. Just joking! I don't want him to get involved physically but at least he can tell me if anything is going on.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by silentC

My only fear at the moment is that, because she didn't want us to go to the teacher, and then she saw us there talking to her, she may clam up now. She was all smiles yesterday. She has seven cousins at the same school, one is a boy in year 4. I'm going to have a chat to him on the weekend and get him to keep an eye on her. I said to the missus maybe we should get him and a couple of his mates to pay young Reece a visit. Just joking! I don't want him to get involved physically but at least he can tell me if anything is going on.

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Good idea. Information is the most important thing. Then when you know what has been going on, you can let your daughter know that you know the true story. Then you have a chance of finding out what is really the problem.

Good luck. As I said before, I am not looking forward to dealing with this if and when it becomes an issue for my kids.

These bullies have to much Bejesus. Just need to beat it out of them?

I wonder if it's possible to 'kill a bully with kindness'?

It would certainly play with their mixed up heads.

Hi

Sorry if I seem to be rather focused on tackling the bully head on with violence.:o

However, leaving it up to others may not always work. So give the process a chance but make it just one bow in the arsenal.

For those who have been around a while may remember my wife had a massive mental breakdown at the hands of a bully. (and she was a hard cop when it came to a fight :D ). We used the touchy feely system put in place to deal with it and in the end it caused as much damage as the bully. Should have belted him in the beginning.

Sometimes we just gotta stand up for ourselves and our children. With a girl particularly I think you would want them to have the confidence to stand up to a male, even if it may hurt. Better that than living in fear of a bullying spouse later on.

Letting others sort it may also further the lack of confidence in a child. The change in my 11 yo after he took his bully down is amazing.:)

Bullies just need a bullying:mad:

ok every thing i said in a earlier post just went out the window i just put pj's on my boy and he's black and blue i asked what happened and he don't want to talk about it , old bag just told me that he has been kicked in the nuts and upper leggs by the look of the bruising it was reported to the head master and he put my boy in time out! ar..hole ,the offender got away with it( ok some hystory)this offender well it's a whole family (as there was 6 kids)turned up 1/2 way through last year kicked out of there last school (and town) with leopords spots in there hair so they was easy to reconize from day 1 the whole school was turned upside down just about every kid was a victim of a bashing or 2 this kept happening till the parents stormed the school and the head master ended up teaching the kids in his own office till the end of the year and he got a tranfer every thing has been reasonablly quiet ) till the last few weeks so monday i will confront the new (chicken sh.t) head master then if i get no joy i feel compelled to go and belt the crap out of the parents of these kids for raising such crap kids sorry for ranting on but i am usually very placid this has just made my blood boil:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Thats very bad Goat.

Good luck mate:)

oh it was a girl that kicked my boy thats why he don''t want to talk about it he's very embarressed poor little bugger and i'm fuming

thanks dazzler oh and old bag is a pet name just incase any one was wondring

Goat
you MUST MUST document the evidence. Even if it means waking your son get some photos NOW. Try and get a doctor's report as well.
Don't forget that by Sunday or Monday DoCS (or it's local equivalent) will assume that you've caused the bruising and you could be faced with proving you didn't -- yeah it stinks but that's how the system is contitioned to work.

On Monday confront the principal with the evidence and demand
1 to know what action he proposes so it doesn't happen again
2 when he proposes to pay your son's medical expenses. Don't take no for an answer. One thing all principal's fear is having to explain their expenditure to the higher ups.

ian

Possibly good to call your local MP and also the Minister. Offer to call John Laws and also Alan Jones if they stonewall you.

Studley

I have a 5yo daughter. I would like to hope this will not happen to her but it may well happen.

There are a number of great points raised through this thread and a number that may well prove counter productive.

Ganhdi suggested that "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

Violence can't solve violence. What is happening in Lebanon and Israel at the moment?

Self defence is absolutely valid should it be needed but revenge is such an awful human habit. It makes one worse than the original perpetrator.

Schools do have policies in place and from what I can see of the reply by the teacher the school was not aware of the problem and that it would be investigated through future observation of your daughter and her bully.

I also don't think there is one answer for bullying situations. So many of the 'apples have not fallen very far from the tree at all'. This is very clear.

Certainly letting a student bully know that what they are doing is not acceptable is fine but threatening them also 'making sure no one is watching, no witnesses' is in itself bordering on assault and is certainly bullying. Is it not just doing the same as the bully? Stand over? I am bigger than you and will do ???? if you do ???? to so and so.

As parents it makes our hearts ache. Our kids are our greatest resource they are the future of the world.

Lets do our best to teach them right. All of them not just our own. Those little Sh*ts who have a sh*t upbringing and are bullying, don't they deserve the support and proper guidance of adults that believe, as all here clearly do, that bullying is not on, that all have a right to be and feel safe? They have been dealt a sh*t card in life and need our help as much as our own kids do.

The older cousin is a really good step. Not as a protector but as a member of your daughters support network at school.

Being at and around the school PTA etc is also a great way of supporting kids and being a presence in their schooling.

IMHO!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shannon Nash

I have a 5yo daughter. I would like to hope this will not happen to her but it may well happen.

There are a number of great points raised through this thread and a number that may well prove counter productive.

Ganhdi suggested that "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

Violence can't solve violence. What is happening in Lebanon and Israel at the moment?

Self defence is absolutely valid should it be needed but revenge is such an awful human habit. It makes one worse than the original perpetrator.

Schools do have policies in place and from what I can see of the reply by the teacher the school was not aware of the problem and that it would be investigated through future observation of your daughter and her bully.

I also don't think there is one answer for bullying situations. So many of the 'apples have not fallen very far from the tree at all'. This is very clear.

Certainly letting a student bully know that what they are doing is not acceptable is fine but threatening them also 'making sure no one is watching, no witnesses' is in itself bordering on assault and is certainly bullying. Is it not just doing the same as the bully? Stand over? I am bigger than you and will do ???? if you do ???? to so and so.

As parents it makes our hearts ache. Our kids are our greatest resource they are the future of the world.

Lets do our best to teach them right. All of them not just our own. Those little Sh*ts who have a sh*t upbringing and are bullying, don't they deserve the support and proper guidance of adults that believe, as all here clearly do, that bullying is not on, that all have a right to be and feel safe? They have been dealt a sh*t card in life and need our help as much as our own kids do.

The older cousin is a really good step. Not as a protector but as a member of your daughters support network at school.

Being at and around the school PTA etc is also a great way of supporting kids and being a presence in their schooling.

IMHO!

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Some good stuff there Shannon. But wait until your daughter refuses to go to school, cries not too, thinks up non existant illnesss, walks with her shoulders slumped ....

all because a little piece of garbage decides to take out thier lifes miseries on your child.

We are not talking about revenge at all. Just stopping the trauma dead in its tracks.

I will 'sacrifice" any piece of garbage that makes my childs life a misery. I will always give the school a chance, but if it doesnt work then thats it and then its up to the parent and the kid to finish it.

When I was OS for 8 months a little piece of garbage, a teachers son mind you, made my 5 yo life and ours a misery. School couldnt achieve anything, his father wasnt interested, and it didnt stop until the little piece of garbage was threatened.

Not nice, bad luck, my child comes first.

The schoolyard is not lebanon, but can be a battlefield all the same.

I dont think I would be a happy camper if I spent my time looking after my childs tormentor at my childs expense

sorry, just dont agree :)
cheers

dazzler

Shannon I agree with a lot of what you have to say, and cannot agree with other stuff. Violence does solve things, WWII is a good example, but that is for a different discussion.

First, you have to protect your child from the physical violence of the bully. Often that means making it too expensive for the bully to get away with what they are doing, either by public ridicule, involving the school, or a direct threat to take legal, and perhaps threaten illegal action.

I mentioned that I told the 4 boys who were tormenting my daughter that I would make them cry, well I did, I made them cry in front of their teacher and their fathers, but I did not lay one finger on them, nor did I intend to. A 40 year old man, does not strike a 10 year old boy.

When we are talking about the truly weird and warped members of our society, well then you are really in a mess, and you need to get the cops and the law involved, but when you are talking about a school yard bully.....

Not every school yard bully turns into Charles Manson, often they are just doing some crap, because they can. The guy I had problems with at school, that I eventually got back on the playing field, all straight up and fair, now, years later when we bump into each other, we laugh about stuff like that, and wonder how we made it though that time in our lives with out a permanent limp :D

Just to end this on a fun question, why do we pay our taxes (I'll assume you guys pay taxes down there) why?

Because, if we don't the government would kill us........... :D

Shannon, this is not a personal attack, I'm just choosing to disagree with some of the things you have said, as I'm sure you will not agree with stuff I've said.

Have a great day!

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Originally Posted by Stu in Tokyo

by public ridicule

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Qiet often its the best method. Bullies thrive on power and alot of them can take some pain. But all of them hate to be ridiculed. Its a bit like Kryptonite for Bullies and drains their power. The embaresment is often to much for them when they realise "everyone" is just laughing at them behind their backs. If you could keep the do-gooders at bay, schools should have a "bully" alert once a week at assembly, where the Principle anounces the "Bully" of the week in front of the entire school, and list their weeks "acheivements" How would the bully feel if that happend. Pretty low i guess.

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Originally Posted by Lignum

Qiet often its the best method. Bullies thrive on power and alot of them can take some pain. But all of them hate to be ridiculed. Its a bit like Kryptonite for Bullies and drains their power. The embaresment is often to much for them when they realise "everyone" is just laughing at them behind their backs. If you could keep the do-gooders at bay, schools should have a "bully" alert once a week at assembly, where the Principle anounces the "Bully" of the week in front of the entire school, and list their weeks "acheivements" How would the bully feel if that happend. Pretty low i guess.

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Would never happen, but I got to say, BRILLIANT!! :D:D

I second that bleedin great idea!
My Girl got 2 awards at school this week, 1 for effort insports, 1 for christain behaviour (catholics go figure:rolleyes: :p still made us real proud she does) now imagine the parents whose kids come home with the "bully of the weak" award, gotta be a good feelin' that one, followed up with maybe a mention in the school or local papers school section.

Bully of the week sounds too much like an award. Why not Dweeb of the week or "this weeks embarresment"?

Studley

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lignum

Qiet often its the best method. Bullies thrive on power and alot of them can take some pain. But all of them hate to be ridiculed. Its a bit like Kryptonite for Bullies and drains their power. The embaresment is often to much for them when they realise "everyone" is just laughing at them behind their backs. If you could keep the do-gooders at bay, schools should have a "bully" alert once a week at assembly, where the Principle anounces the "Bully" of the week in front of the entire school, and list their weeks "acheivements" How would the bully feel if that happend. Pretty low i guess.

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Great idea, but can you imagine all the bleeding hearts jumping up and down about this.

Mick

I think that in the end the buck stops with the principal. When your children go to a school with a strong, "on the ball" principal, a lot of these bullying problems just don't occur. When they do, they're dealt with quickly and with strongly and with a "don't muck around with me" attitude.

A lot of the posts that I've read here are bursting with the frustration of parents who have protected their children all their lives and now have to send them to school where they are being hurt. Worse still, there doesn't seem to be anything that can be done about it.

My answer? If the principal isn't strong enough to deal with it, then parents have to deal with it with their own strength but through the principal. That is, ride the weak principal until they're forced to do something about it. They'll eventually relay the pressure imposed on them by parents to the rest of the staff and ultimately to the bully and it's parents.

In my experience, too many parents aquiesce to the "wisdom" of teachers when it comes to their children. Teachers can be so good at "setting parents straight" with calm, authoritative -- but completely wrong -- assessments of what's happening at school. This is because, as in every walk of life, there are good ones and bad ones ....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lignum

Bullies thrive on power and alot of them can take some pain. But all of them hate to be ridiculed. Its a bit like Kryptonite for Bullies and drains their power. The embaresment is often to much for them

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Lignum

You've hit the nail on the head (if that isn't too violent a metaphor ;) ).

When I confronted the 16-year old tosser in front of his parents and told him I'd kick his @rse if he bullied my daughter, two things happened:-

1) His teenage power-aura was suddenly shattered by a direct threat from someone who quite obviously was capable of carrying it out. This was a massive shock to him.

2) He was humiliated in a very public and obvious way.

His immediate reaction was quite interesting. I've never seen anyone's face go so red so quickly. He couldn't meet anyone's gaze. Not mine, not his father's, not his mother's. He was hugely embarrassed.

In the case of the teacher-bastard whom we roughed up on the rugby pitch, something very similar occurred. His power over the school's students was suddenly revealed as an illusion and - at the same time - he got a very rough public humiliation.

I don't know whether either of these events was a life-changing circumstance for the two bullies involved. However, in both cases the specific bullying stopped - immediately.

Mick is right about the potential reaction of the bleeding hearts. Their problem is that they try to make rules to meet the generalities of life. However, life is actually lived in the specific.

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Originally Posted by Driver

...........Mick is right about the potential reaction of the bleeding hearts. Their problem is that they try to make rules to meet the generalities of life. However, life is actually lived in the specific...........

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Ladies and Gentlemen, now THAT is a keeper!! :D