Bullying vs Coddling

Most people have to deal with at least one bully at some point or another.  Letting them get to you is giving them power over you.  You put up a good fight once*, and the same one usually won't try it again.  It is hard to find the fine line between asking for help and whining about it, granted, but, that's where the focus should be.  This is something that children need to learn, to be able to function in a free society, and for us to retain Freedom of Speech.

Sometimes, authority figures do need to step in.  That definitely doesn't mean all of the time, everyone needs to learn to deal with things for themselves, to stand up for themselves, and that a little pain (mental, emotional, or physical) isn't the end of the world.  I feel that everyone should be able and willing to get in the ring if they need to, and that the strong are needed to ensure that it stays fair...

Words may hurt, but, so does skinning one's knee, falling off of a bike or horse, working hard, playing hard, and many other things that we need to be able to do to live our lives to the fullest.  Babies learn that falling down hurts, but, you get over it, and it's the price we pay for mobility.  As we told our youngest yesterday (after she scraped her second knee in an afternoon), kids should have skinned knees, it shows they're active and not afraid to play (and, she went back out to, too).  Sadly, though, too many people want the world padded for complete comfort.

Do we really want our species to grow weak(er)?  Do we want the kinds of kids who collapse at the first hint of hardship?  Or, do we want our species to survive, as the kinds of people who will weather whatever the Universe throws at us, able to persevere past the point where they would have thought they'd die?


* Of course, it is essential to "read" potential opponents and pick an appropriate place, some are too psycho and need to be dealt with by authorities, some will band together and|or beat someone past the point of "just a beating."  Some of the worst see saving face as worth coming back with a weapon to avenge a simple loss.