When the kid comes home and says the kids at school pushed him into a thorn bush. Why are kids so cruel?

@michaelhh It would be a pretty big deal! Kids should be punished for behaving like that.

@lauriethecolourful Of course they should. But 'society' has got so humane that the little b.....s can do almost anything they like without getting punished, as punishment is barbaric. So they don't actually know any limits.

@michaelhh I think when a sweet little boy comes home with a shoe missing and thrones in his legs, then something has to be done. I think schools and parents need to handle bullying very differently.

@lauriethecolourful When it happens at school there can be some sort of control exercised, but when little Johnny gets mugged on the way home there is nothing the school can do, and the police have other things to occupy themselves with. However, let a kid accuse an adult of physical harm, and the whole weight of the law and social services will come down on the adult within hours, and he/she will be presumed guilty unless proved innocent.

@michaelhh I am a retired teacher. The problem is lawsuits. If a bully is punished, his (or her) parents can sue the school and most school districts do not have enough funding to fight lawsuits. So it is much easier to just ignore it or try useless anti-bullying programs that only help a very few.

@greenmountaingal I understand this. But surely there is another way. I think parents also need to play a bigger role. In some cases ( not all) the kida haven't been taught right from wrong. This little boys parents have taught him how to be compassionate, loving and caring and he's done nothing but give that back to everyone. Now that he's older, he needs to learn about sticking up for himself and that's what we intend to do. :)

@lauriethecolourful It's obvious you are very concerned. I hope all these (and my own) comments haven't made you feel we don't respect your efforts. I am sure having loving, supportive caring parents at home will make a huge difference to your son.

@greenmountaingal Thank you very much. Yours and everyone elses comments have assured me that I'm going in the right direction. Bullying is very difficult. Up until the kid came into our lives, my partner and I have always seem bullying through the eyes of the person being bullied. I didn't realize that it is equally as heartbreaking when your own child is beimg bullied.

I know that someday he will make friends that love him for who he is. Until then, we will keep guiding him in tbe right direction.

@lauriethecolourful His friends will love him for who he is. But people in general, his acquaintances and those he works with, especially men, will only respect him if he can defend himself verbally and, to some degree, physically as well. Friends are those who care about you and like who you are; from what you say, this will never be a problem for your son. It's just those few real jerks we all have to deal with now and then...

The Samantha Horn book really helped me. I read it during a year when I had to deal with a bullying boss. It really helped me to minimize her nasty behavior.

@greenmountaingal I understand what you mean. As he gets older, he will learn to stick up for himself. I was the exact same as him as a child.

I'm sorry that your boss gave you a hard time. We think that bullying stops when we become adults, but that's not the case. It's probably worse when we are adults.

Thank you for the recommendation. I will look it up and see where I can find it. :)