[Melas]

I believe my first experience with someone hitting me ended with my dad telling me "If you come home tommorrow and you didn't kick this kid's butt, i'll be whipping yours when you get to the house." but unfortunately the P.C. Panzies are doing just what Dr. Laura say's. But there are those of us who still teach our children how to deal with bullies, you give them a black eye and bloody nose!

You know, that's great advice if your kid is obviously destined to be the Rock or Hulk Hogan. Self-defense is my bag, and one of the undeniable truths is that you just can't always beat the other guy's butt, no matter how hard you try. Sometimes the bully isn't a coward at all. Sometimes the bully is just big, strong, stupid, tough, and twisted enough like hurting others.

I had a cousin who was the bully I just described. I don't think he ever lost a fight in his whole life. At the time of his death (overdose) he was 6'8" and 350 pounds of meaness. A veteran of every penal system in Colorado from juvie on. As a child he used to revel, and I mean get giddy happy at the prospect of a kid standing up to him. His first stint in the big house was as child, after beating the other kid so bad that he needed plastic surgery to re-attach the lip that almost severed from repeated impacts against his teeth.

Last thing I'd EVER do is tell a kid to stand up to a bully unless there was no other recourse. This ain't 1950's television.

[HELLRAISER II]

There is alot of truth in what you say, sometimes the bigger they are the harder they hit. At 6'2" & 290 lbs I'm a prime example of someone you don't want to mess with, however the difference between me and your cousin is that i'm not a bully. As a matter of fact i'm the guy who would have taken a baseball bat to your cousin if he was to bad to handle one on one and it sounds like he would've deserved it. On the other hand I realize that everyone is not capable of this, but that doesn't mean they have to take it. Kids need to remember that there is strength in numbers, I can remember one time while horseplaying with my brothers and their best friend when we were young, they proved that by two of them grabbing my legs and the other one attacking my torso they could bring my big @ss to the ground and trust when I tell you that they had me whipped had they wanted to hurt me. I guess the moral of my story is don't get mad, get even.

[Little Ray]

Thats when you give your kid a roll of pennies, wrapped in electrical tape.

[freeeee]

No offense intended, but your cousin is the reason weapons were invented.

[xsrdx]

At the time of his death (overdose) he was 6'8" and 350 pounds of meaness. A veteran of every penal system in Colorado from juvie on. As a child he used to revel, and I mean get giddy happy at the prospect of a kid standing up to him.

Problems like that get dealt with quietly - as you point out, there's always somebody, bigger, faster, meaner - and smarter.

The "hit back harder" would be ill advised dealing with a monster; there are more effective alternatives.