Q&A: A Bullying Child
A Bullying Child
Question
A thug in the neighborhood has been bullying my 12-year-old son for months already. We haven’t found any solution, and it’s getting worse and worse. If I send my son along with his cousin, it’s very likely that the cousin will give this thug a solid beating. Am I allowed to do that? The thug doesn’t care about my yelling at him and just yells back. His parents put on a bit of an act as though they don’t entirely not care, but in practice nothing happens. My son is sensitive and small and avoids confrontations, and this situation is affecting him very badly, and I have to solve it.
Answer
If turning to the police doesn’t help, then I would definitely try another way so that he gets hit a bit.
Just carefully, not to harm him too much. And if it’s possible to warn him first, that’s preferable.
As someone who used to run a boarding facility for at-risk youth, a police officer is a wonderful solution. The last measure that actually deterred them was standing before a youth court judge. Even the biggest street punks, with police files for assault and more, when they saw a youth court judge, turned into twitching snails.