Last Updated on October 21, 2014.
My Thoughts on the Bullying epidemic as it stands now.
Written by Scott Zapfel
Head Instructor Tiger Schulmann’s MMA
Wayne NJ
This past weekend I saw an anti-bullying news story on Dateline NBC. They hired a few kids, two to act as bullies and one to be the victim, and put other kids in the room as well to see how they react. Joining in or standing up for the victim. It was interesting. The thing that concerns me about this story was they were studying the actions of the “audience”. Most times bullies do need an audience for their behavior, and if they get laughs they’ll ramp up the attack. They mentioned over and over again which kids stood up for the victims, who laughed feeding the bullies fire, and how others reacted as well. It started out as a story on witnessing bullies. Too many times others were expected to stand up for the victim. Why isn’t the victim expected to stand up for themselves?
At the end of the story they shifted to a girl who got upset when she saw the bullying because she is being bullied herself. She was told to “find” the courage to stand up for herself. “Find” it??? How can a young pre-teen or teen be expected to find her courage. Does she go looking behind trees, or under rocks? Its not possible to act confident or be confident without our own achievements. Courage can’t be found if you do nothing build it up! And what is it that builds confidence? Achievement! Anything a kid does that helps achieve real significant goals will build confidence.
I’m not saying kids who have confidence won’t be picked on but the confidence from all the achievement will help them stand up for themselves and put a quick end to the bullying!
There a lot of different experts that will give you some similar and often contradicting advice, but my advice is get your child into an organized activity that will allow him or her to achieve some goals and you’ll see their confidence grow. I have seen many kids overcome bullies with the confidence of training in the martial arts. Tiger Schulmann’s has been teaching anti-bullying for 30 years. Increased strength, flexibility, and not to mention actual mixed martial arts techniques that teach you self defense, standing up or on the ground, will do wonders for your child’s confidence, I can promise you that.
Dateline NBC, NJ’s governor, and anyone else who brings up the topic of bullying for discussion are doing the right thing, but in the end, putting a stop to this problem lies in the hands of the victims. Kids are bullied for many reasons, and some times for no reason at all, it won’t stop until these kids who are the victims get involved in something and build their confidence through achievement. No one can find their confidence if they haven’t created it yet. Tiger Schulmann’s Mixed Martial Arts Anti-Bullying Program ultimately does one thing, build confidence! 1-800-52-TIGER.