“They let things slide as “kids being kids” when if the behavior going on were to occur in the workplace between adults, someone would go to jail.”
Getting bullied sucks, but it is a part of growing up. I don’t think that expecting the schools to somehow stop bullying is very realistic. Even if they could, neither your parents or your teachers can protect you 24 hours a day; sooner or later, you’ll have to face a bully with nowhere to run to for help.
So, hey, just ignore it. . .it will all work out in the end. After all, criminals are criminals and there is no need to call the cops or to protect anyone from criminals. . .ooops. . .I thought you were talking about criminals, not bully’s. . .oh. . .maybe what I wrote applies equally to bullys as well because, after all, they are criminals. Sure, life skills are important but there are lines to be drawn to protect the defenseless.
No sure I can capitulate on the issue so easily. I do get your point and cannot live in denial of human nature - but to assume that this is just about bullying is to ignore what's really going on in our schools. Without going into a huge spiel it seems that what we're facing is a product of the abject unwillingness for our culture (parents - this is more your problem then the schools) to embrace a Judeo-Christian morality.
Teach your kids the golden rule and it reinforced in school.
I'm the single dad of three kids and we talk about grace and redemption in context of the kids they see at school all the time. Bullying is a symptom of our inability to teach our kids the value of people - even the really sucky people like bullies.