Bullies - The School Kind

A father confronts his disabled daughter's bullies and, enraged, threatens their life.

Was he right in doing so?  After all there were children on the school bus that did not do anything against her neither did any of them report the abuse.  Neither did the school bus driver.  The school did nothing to stand up for the little girl.

What would you do if someone bullied your child?  What would you do if someone bullied and sexually harassed your disabled daughter?

I know exactly what I would do if I saw a child being abused in any way by anyone, including, their parents.  I was abused and bullied and no one did anything.  I handled it. 

Abuse from relatives, including parents and step-parents, I just sucked it up and endured it until I could get as far away as I could.  When possible, I tried to avoid it the best I could.

Bullying from other students was different.  One of my step-mothers taught me to knock the stew out of someone who hit me first.  My mother taught me if you are being picked on by someone bigger than you, act like nothing makes you scared.  Then you schedule a fist fight and bring a crowbar. 

Being a girl almost 6 feet tall since I was 13 has had its advantages.  Having a little brother 4 years younger who was picked on had advantages also.  Being tall gives one the impression of power.  Standing up and looking mean at some twerp who is even a half-foot shorter can quash many an aggressive move. 

I never liked to fight.  I saw too much of it up close and personal.  I knew what it was like to feel helpless and frightened.  It is an awful feeling to know that you were going to be hurt and it might be bad. 

I remember an incident when I was about 11 or 12.  My little brother and I had been playing at a playground at the elementary school.  When we started to go home, I saw some boys with BB guns.  This wave of fear came over me and I tried desperately to hide it.  They said something.  I don't recall what it was because I was concentrating on getting away from there without one of us getting hurt. 

We had to cross an open field to get home and I didn't know any other way around it.  As we started walking, I heard them pumping their guns.  I heard them laughing and shouting.  Then I started hearing the BB's whiz past and hit the ground around me.  One went between my legs as I took a step but I refused to run.  I was afraid that I would fall and knew something worse might happen.  I didn't know what BB's would do.  I did know they killed birds and small animals.  I had heard about boys getting an eye put out and maybe that is why I wouldn't look in their direction.

My mother picked a fight for me one sunny afternoon.  My little brother came in and said that some big girls had taken his bike from him.  She called me to come with her.  She was going to get his bike back.  The three girls were in the same grade I was.  It was Bonnie, Judy and another girl.  I was 5 foot 11 and none of them was over 5 foot.  They were all wearing shorts or pedal pushers and looking tough.  I had on a dress with ruffles.

The whole time my little family group is moving, my mother is steady asking, "Where are they?"; "Who are they?" and "Who do they think they are?" 

We met up with them in the side yard of the apartment building.  They were just a short way from the bike.

My mother asked them why they thought it necessary to pick on a little boy and steal his bicycle.  Without giving them a chance to answer, she made the following statement and asked them a question.

"So, you think you're tough taking a little boy's bike away from him!  Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

It was her next question that made me wonder about my mother's mental stability.  "If you want to fight with someone, fight my daughter.  She'll take you on.  One at a time or all at once."

I stole a glance at her and she never blinked.  I took a deep breath and said nothing.  I just stood firm and tried to look taller and stared at them.  Was I scared?  Of those three, one was getting a reputation for being a tough girl, smoking and fighting. Two of them had gone through grade school with me.  The third one was one I thought was my friend. 

To my surprise and relief they all said that I was too much bigger than they were and they all backed down and walked away leaving the bike behind.

My last school bully was a girl in high school in a Wheeling city school.  She didn't like me from day one.  She pulled my hair, wrote me dirty notes and whispered how she would kick my skinny butt any time she wanted to.  Gym class was the worst.  Every time she got a ball in her hand, it was headed my way.  After about a week of relentless harassment, I'd had enough.  I didn't know how or when, but I was going to return the favor.  I started with the hair-pulling.  I came up behind her and yanked on her hair.  When she turned I smiled at her and then at the teacher standing in the stairway.  That day at gym class, I made sure I got the ball and I made sure that she was on the receiving end.  By the end of class, she had learned the fine art of ducking.    We did not become fast friends, but we did manage to pass each other in the hallway without incident.

What I found out about bullies is they thrive on knocking down the weaker ones.  They get some kind of high taking on the easy pickings.  If you weren't easily controlled, they left you alone.  They are a lot like hyenas looking for the slowest in the herd, waiting to devour them.   I simply picked up the step and found ways to detour them.

Oh, don't get any ideas that I became a crusader for the underdog.  I figured that it was everyone for himself.  Unless it took place in front of me.  Then I found a way to step in or at the very least create a distraction so the kid could get away. 

No, I never told on anyone.  That labeled you a tattletale and it just made it worse.

My next entry will be about corporate bullies.  They prey on everyone.