Posted: 4/30/2011 12:23:17 PM EDT
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Being a loyal ARFCOM member and all my first thought when it comes to self defense is that which uses a weapon. (duh).
But what about self defense without a weapon? Ill be more specific. My eldest daughter is kind of on the "outs" at school with the other girls. She is a very well behaved kid and pays the price for it (socially) by not going along with the crowd when they do naughty shit, etc. and is teased/excluded for it. It's been petty shit thus far, she verbally stands up for herself well, etc. The last few weeks it has been rising more to the level of bullying and last week one of the kids actually hit her on the arm to get her off of some piece of playground equip. Now she has been told by her Mother and I that she under no circumstances is to take this type of abuse and has our permission, more like expectation, to retaliate; damn the consequences. She is simply too scared of those consequences I suppose to actually fight back. We are working on that. Now to my question. In order to document this behavior in accordance with the County's directive there are forms to fill out, etc. I read the Parent/Student handbook this AM and while I had always assumed that retailiating against an abuser would be punishable with suspension or whatever but I was surprised to learn that retaliation is considered the same offense as the bullying that caused it. Actually reading this got me thinking. Doesnt a person have the natural right to self defense? Is this even legal for the school district to take this stance? I know: PC bullshit, tell her to fight back, NEA, etc replies will come but when I discuss this particular incident on Monday with the Principal I do ontend to question the legality of such a policy. In Florida I can take your life if I feel I am iminent danger of bodily harm or death but my kid can't defend herself from assault? |
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The notion that defending yourself ––rather than calling it retaliation–– is equally as undesirable behavior as the original attack has spread far and wide among schools in the US. The idea is that the child is supposed to report the strike or hit and the school system will punish them for it. They set up these rules with the belief that students are only exposed to what you're talking about here, someone taking an occasional shot at another student rather than a concerted, continuing attack. You may have a hard time making a case that your daughter should be able to retaliate.
If, however, assaults are ramping up in frequency and intensity and the school knows this and isn't taking measures to keep your daughter safe, they should understand that she isn't going to be a willing punching bag forever. |