Thoughts on Bullying
Richard Ickler (ICKLERR@DELPHI.COM)
Sun, 18 Dec 1994 00:13:45 -0500
John Oakes said:
>pipes together to start a campfire <G>..) Anyhow, Whenever we have had a
>problem with this type of thing one of us (usually me) pick up the kid one
>afternoon from their classroom (timing is everything), 5 minutes before
>the let out of classes. We of course take the L O N G way around the halls
>back to the Bike...You can guess the rest.
>Next day is usually most interesting for the kids..."Hey who was that bad
>looking dude that picked you up".... "That was my Scoutmaster of our
>Troop". I have inherited a couple of boys this way. It works for us.
>John Oakes
>Beaded Beaver...5 Dec 94
I am a little concerned about this approach. On the surface it seems like a
very effective approach but there is a problem. Have you thought about what
you will do when someone comes along (and it is almost guaranteed that
someone will) and decides he is going to take on that "bad looking dude"? At
that point you have to make a decision whether you're going to deal with it
nonviolently or whether you're going to back up the threat. That is the
hidden side of trying to solve the bully problem with intimidation. If you
use the implied threat of violence you have to be prepared to back it up and I
don't think that is what we want to teach our scouts.
Please don't misunderstand me - I'm still looking for a better answer myself
and I've been very lucky. I have never had to deal with serious bullying.
Still I really think that before we use any approach we have to think about
how it can go wrong and what happens if it doesn't work.
Richard Ickler icklerr@delphi.com
Scoutmaster, Troop 14 icklerr@corp.macom.com
Long Beach, CA
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
