Thoughts on this one?
The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh recently opined in a piece entitled, “We Teach Our Kids To Be Doormats And Then Wonder Why There Is A ‘Bullying Epidemic.'”
From the article:
“We have built of this mythology of “the bigger person,” and told our children that the “bigger person” is the one who walks away from bullies, disengages, tells an adult. The “bigger person” is somehow the submissive one who slinks away and runs for cover. We tell our children that remaining silent in the face of a bully is “strong” and “courageous.” But somehow the strong, courageous, bigger child, who spends his childhood avoiding confrontation and retreating in the face of aggressors, never actually feels very strong, courageous, or big. He feels, rather, like a punchline. Because that is what we have told him to be.”
Of course, this is not to say that we must teach kids to be violent. That end of the spectrum has its own problems. Deescalation rather than escalation through either direct force or reporting to an authority is the best solution in most every case. If someone is mocking you, you can mock them back, you can mostly ignore them with an attitude of "you're not worth my time," or even just calmly discussing why they think it's worth their time to mock you. As usual with life, balance is key.
I agree with that. It's when it comes to actual physical confrontation that for the most part would be unavoidable, I think kids should be instructed to defend themselves.