I just finished 19 minutes by Jodi Picoult. It was an amazing read... a hard read. A hard read not in the sense of a literary hard read... but a hard read as in emotionally.
I kept seeing my children in this book... a little weird I know. But, I think that every single one of us, when we are honest, can recall a time in our life when we were a victim of bullying. It happens. All the time. How, as a parent, do you protect your kids from being the victim of bullying? That, my friends, is the million dollar question.
Last year, Thing 2 was constantly getting bullied by a neighbor. We tried to help him learn skills to walk away, let it roll of his back, turn the other cheek. It just didn't stop. Finally, Thing 2 had it. Big Bully told him if he didn't do what he wanted, then BB would punch Thing 2 in the face. Thing 2 thought about it for 2.5 seconds, and then punched BB in the face. Then he tackled him and they got into a huge fight on the sidewalk. A rolling, punching, scratching brawl. I have to admit that I was a little proud of him. Seriously. THAT takes guts. THAT is so unlike Thing 2. He is a peacemaker. When I found out about it (several days after the fact) the Mother of BB was insistent that I punish Thing 2. I told her that A) if she had told me the day it had happened it would be much easier to visit the issue with Thing 2 and find out what had really happened. B) The fact that it did happen is SO out of character for Thing 2, I had to wonder what provoked him. She got extremely defensive and said her son was violently attacked.
Yeah right.
Violently.
HA.
After careful investigation, and talking with kids that were there, fragments of the truth came out. When we talked with Thing 2 about it, his response was: "He told me if I didn't do what he wanted me to do, then he would punch me in the face. And, he would Mom! So, I punched him first."
Now. Here is why this story is relevant. I am by no means an advocate of violence. However, there have been zero incidents since that infamous day of Thing 2 beating the crap out of Big Bully. He stood up for himself. And, they knew that he would not take it any more. THAT speaks volumes I think. You can only turn the other cheek so many times before you snap... I would rather it be in the form of a fist fight than a Columbine Snap.
Anyway.
19 minutes. It's a good read. Go HERE to see a trailer for the book. Then, go HERE to hear a podcast regarding The Story Behind 19 minutes (click on #2)
Wow.