"Your mother wears army boots"

    "Your mother wears army boots" - that's what we used to say in my school days. 

   Based on the article below I supposed that the school should have been held liable for not punishing us in the severest fashion for our obvious "bullying".

    Now, before I begin my short rant, let me say that I never appreciated nor condoned anyone being "picked on". I never allowed it in my class or in the teams which I coached. Most often all it took was a stern - "I want you to leave him alone" - and the harassment would immediately stop.

I certainly am not in favor of "bullying" of any child or as a matter of fact, any adult either.

   But, my questions are:

What is the definition of "bullying"?

Is the occasionally childhood teasing really "bullying"?

Is a teacher's criticism of a student's poor performance "bullying"?

Is a teacher's insistence that a child do his homework "bullying"?

If a coach tells a player that he should have done better is that "bullying"

How about a parent nagging a child to take out the garbage?

   I think, like many things in America that are designed to improve society, the "Bullying Law" is being taken to unreasonable extremes.

   As I read the article it says "the incident" which implies that it occurred once. Does that comprise "bullying" or  is it just occasional, childish name calling?

   Additionally, it says "A.C. (the accused) is not a chronic troublemaker". I think that might suggest that he is not a "bully" but merely acting as children often do and without any malice.

   I also noted that the parent demanded $50,000 for "emotional damages" plus legal fees from the school. It seems that when there is the smell of money in the air, lawyers flock to a situation like bees to honey. Could that be the case here or is there legitimate indignation on the part of the parents who really think their child has been "bullied"?

   And lastly, if we care to take the "Bullying Law" to the extreme, as I think may have been done here, then how about this:

If a teacher is harassed and interrupted (and possibly insulted) while trying to teach a class is that "bullying" by the students.

Does the teacher have the right to press charges against those disruptive students?

Can the teacher sue for "emotional damages"?

Must the administration report the incident to the state?

   Let me reemphasize, I am not defending bullying, but I certainly think a rational approach to the situation and a reasonable definition of "bullying"  is required. If not, we soon may see almost every child (and possibly adult) in every school in the land being accused of "bullying" based  on every inane, occasional comment.;

Wayne's World - Maybe It's Worth a Shot!

Upon hearing of the Sandy Hook tragedy and the NRA's Wayne LaPierre's  solution to the ongoing school carnage, I feel compelled to offer my solution to the ongoing school carnage.

Since the NRA refuses to relinquish its stand on assault weapons being sold to the public, maybe it would be wise to station armed personal at school buildings as he suggests, so as to wart attacks by crazed gunmen carrying military style weapons.

            Who better to protect our children against attack by persons carrying military weapons than the military itself?

            We currently have troops in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. We have thousands of service men stationed throughout the world in Germany, Japan, Korea and so on.

I propose that we bring them all home and have them provide the security that Mr. LaPierre speaks of, at each and every school in the nation.

            The "Defense" Department continually claims to be defending us with our troops in foreign lands, thousands of miles away, fighting endless, futile wars and engaged in perpetual occupations.

            This would be their opportunity to really defend us here at home, where we are actually being threatened.