By Stephen C. Schultz
Many may look at the title of this post and say,
“Yeah…right! Like that will ever happen!”
Yes it is true, bullying in some form or another has
affected people since the time of “Cane & Able”. For those who don’t
ascribe to any particular religious world view, I will simply say that bullying
has manifested itself throughout the ages.
As a small child of five or six, I had a bully approach me a
few times as I would ride my bike to school. One time he took my bike and rode
away. Another time he pushed me into the gutter and started punching me. While
it was somewhat traumatic at the time, I had a loving and supportive family
that helped me realize it was the bully that had some problems and I was a
courageous, kind and likeable boy.
Bullying may include kids
at school, teens on the internet or thugs playing the “knock out game”.
It takes place in the classroom,
playground, sports arena and workplace.
The purpose of this post isn’t to explore the history of
bullying or try to analyze its effects on the one that is bullied. I simply
wish to share a couple of experiences I have had with bullying and you can draw
your own conclusions. I find it
interesting that as we as a society discuss bullying, it gets discussed as if
“bullying” is an entity or force all its own. We talk about it as if it exists
under its own power or has a life of its own.
There are organizations set up to fight “bullying”. There is
money raised and programs are created get rid of bullying. There are school and
community efforts that expend time and resources to discourage “bullying”.
Politicians and law enforcement agencies get involved by creating legislation
to punish acts of bullying. These are all noble efforts and causes. However,
the solution to bullying begins in the home.
In its simplest form, bullying is merely one person being
mean to another. Where better is there, than in the home, for kids to learn
about kindness, compassion, self worth, empathy, determination, courage and
patience?
Please allow me to share two experiences I have had with
bullying. The first experience happened when I was in elementary school. The
second experience was vicariously through my daughter a few years ago.
I would love to have any feedback or comments. Have you
had experiences with bullying either as a child or teen, or as the parent of
someone being bullied?
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