I saw a meme today saying that we are raising a generation of sissies. I agree. What I didn't agree on was the fact that the meme simply states "Bullying happens." No, no it doesn't "happen." Bullying is an action; it's a choice. It doesn't just "happen." While I feel that it's important to teach our kids how to defend themselves, it is NOT the solution to teach them that fighting is a way to solve things. Almost any martial arts (or similar activity) will tell you that you learning how to defend yourself doesn't mean you jump on everyone that comes by; you use it only when you NEED to. Defense is about protecting yourself if someone is attacking.
We definitely need to teach our children how to protect themselves but we need to teach them how to advocate for themselves, too. We need to teach them how to handle it when someone even STARTS bullying; before it moves further along.
More than that, we need to step up as a society. We need to stop accepting it as if it's normal. We need to start calling out our children if they bully. It's not okay to bully ANYONE....ever. We need to stop letting our children believe that they can pick and choose who they need to treat with respect. We need to okay our schools to step up and handle it, even if it means that your child may be the one that gets punished. We need to be on top of this. It won't happen overnight but it needs to happen.
While I fully agree that we are raising sissies, we don't need to raise bullies either. Let's focus on raising kids who treat everyone with dignity and respect.
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