"Steve Freides" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:"JMW" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...Quoted message said:Dally said:My little first-grader brought home a note saying he kicked another kid
in the face. The reason he gave was he was "grouchy". The teacher has
asked me to give him some other ideas how to handle it when he gets
"grouchy".I asked my kid about it. He says the kid is mean to him and mean to
everyone and was bugging him and he (my kid) had already asked him to
stop.-snip-
Quoted message said:I can only give you my own parenting experience. Our oldest boy was
pretty small for his age, but he had a bit a mouth on him, so he got
picked on a lot in elementary school. He learned to keep his mouth
shut in junior high school, but by that time, he had become a target
for bullies. I spoke with the school administration, but nothing
happened; they were aware of the bullying, but they said they were
limited in what they could do.Fortunately, our boy had been training in martial arts for a while and
was gaining some proficiency.-snip-
I think having Dally's son study a martial art is the best idea here. It
might sound backwards to teach someone you're trying to get not to fight
how to fight, but in most cases, it really does work and for several
reasons.
I agree with you, Steve - maybe for slightly different reasons, though. Good
martial arts training for kids has a strong self-discipline component which
will help li'l Sammy resist those urges to lash out when he's grouchy. Also,
a good MA instructor can be a positive role model for mature behavior.
Lastly, working through a progression of belts can really help a kid's self
esteem (God, I sound like some touchy - feely liberal, here) and kids with
confidence and positive self image tend to not be chosen as victims.