Bullying

There's an article on CNN.com today titled "How to help your child cope with a bully." Near the end of the piece there's one particular line that sparks the most debate: "Experts point out it is important for parents to keep emotions in check and to not encourage a child to hit back or retaliate." Split-infinitive aside, the question is, when you get bullied, what's the appropriate response?

First up, we have a few renegades.

CHANTAL: My daughter had an issue on school bus with 2 boys. They would call her names, she would come home crying ... So I took a baseball bat went to the 2 boys house and threaten them and their families. They never bothered Mary again.

Mike: First of all, make sure your kid isn't going to a school where students come in with knives or firearms (if he or she does, make sure they are properly armed as well). Second, enroll your child in a Martial Arts program when they are young. It helps if you spar with them sometimes so they get used to handling someone bigger and stronger.

David: Its really simple. Confirm visually for yourself and through your child who is doing the bullying. Then find that kid after school and hit him. Tell him that you will come find him every day at the same time and hit him again for the next month. It'll clear up his bullying right away.

Most of the responses aren't quite so extreme. Instead, people recount their own stories of standing up to bullies.

Scott: I was the victim of a bully in grade school. I tried all the approved techniques - teacher intervention, talking, trying to make friends, etc. What finally worked was beating him to a pulp when he jumped me from behind. I bloodied his nose, gave him a black eye, and split his lip. I got in a lot of trouble as this happened at school, but you know what? He never picked on me again. Problem solved.

Michael: I lived in bully Hell until my second year of high school when I just snapped one day and beat my tormentor to the floor with a chair. I got in a LOT of trouble on every level. But, no one ever tried to bully me again. I considered it then, and do now, a very equitable trade-off.

Jim P: Warn the bully. Then if they do no back down, drill em in the face.

Parent: You back down to a bully and it only gets worse. A bully who has hit you or hurt you in another way needs to be stopped immediately. If that means landing a punch square on the kid's nose, so be it. You fight fire with fire. Be passive and you let the little Hitler run amok.

I'm not here to advocate one side or other. But what I find interesting about these comments is this: bullying is a microcosm for the war on terror. When we bully other nations, other groups of people, what kind of reaction should we expect from them? When the people leaving these comments clearly understand the importance of retaliation, of standing up for oneself, why is it we're puzzled that the citizens of Iraq are not welcoming us as liberators?

Ban the Qur'an

Last fall, Ayaan Hirsi Ali was a guest on "Real Time with Bill Maher." She was promoting her memoir, Infidel, and I found her to be an eloquent and intelligent speaker -- especially considering that English is one of her six languages. This evening, I looked at the Amazon.com listing for Infidel to read some reviews. As I scrolled through the comments, one of the subject headings for a customer discussion caught my eye: "Please Sign Today: Ban the Koran." The poster links to an online petition to, well, ban the Qur'an. The message?

To: To All Humanity

The Koran (or Qur'an) is a book which inspires and incites hatred and violence against non-Muslims. The book should be banned in non-Muslim countries.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

And now, a few of the comments from the 1,603 signatures. (Sorry about the formatting -- I just copy/pasted from the petition.)

1588.

Jill Michelle Miller

Islam is sickening death cult. I hate Islam and think it should be erradicated... it is worse than it's vile cousin, Nazism. Islam and it's sick followers are ruining everything good in this world. The world would be a much better place without it. Islam and it's followers are the true source of all the most horrible things happening on every continent right now.

1494.

yeoh tom

Unless Koran is not banned there will be hatred, division in socieity, terrorism, child molestation and disaster. This is an evil book that billions are following, Koran should be banned in non muslim countries, immigration should be banned for muslims to non muslims counties,

1399.

Monica K

I wanted to put my last name but I don't want some sick fanatic to call all the people in the phone book with my last name with death threats. I am disgusted by all Muslims that preach this violent garbage and live by this evil book. Shame on all Muslims for not discarding this sickass "religion".

1358.

Blaine Grant

I don't want islam in America at all

1157.

No mo man !

Long over due for Islam to get a good kick in the teeth and for it to perish !!

1117.

fred

Glad to see someone making sense. How about a ban on Muslims too?

1054.

Peter Baran

Islam, the biggest danger in this century.

1002.

Hadi Aman

Allah sucks cock

947.

Andrew Snader

Any American who converts to Islam should be stripped of his American citizenship.

694.

Larry Mitchell

Islam is dedicated to the destruction of America, the West in general, and NO MUSLIM should be allowed to hold public offices--especially as President of the U.S.!

413.

T Reid

it's good toilet paper

238.

bob

the quran sucks and all muslims suck cock

57.

Don Brookover

Deport to Iran those who violate the ban.

1.

T Schell

High time people read the book and realized that it is a terrorist manual.

Thankfully, there are a handful of thoughtful comments among the hate. Here's one such comment.

1143.

Max Kirkman

I bet half of you haven't even read the Qu' ran. Does the Bible not say to judge not your brothers. Doesn't Jesus love all, not just Christians. I want you to know that muslims do belive in Jesus as a Prophet. So to say that Muslims worship the devil is the same as saying you, worship the devil. Because we recognize the same prophets as you. Insha Allah you will see the truth. You should all take the time to actually read the Qu'ran, and not base your principles on the ideas of others. Form your own opinions, so you do not lose your minds to the modern day babylon, which is the west. God loves us all equally. May allah's blessing be upon you all, for you have all been led astray.

1146.

james david mark

the koran is a pile of crap. max is mad and just another murdering muslim posting under a civilised name as he's too embarrassed to use his paedophile following real name (which is probably mohammed because muslims don't have a creative brain cell in their empty indoctrinated heads).

Arkansas' Democratic Party Chairman Shot

Details are sparse at this time, but here's what's surfaced: A man in his 50s walked into the Little Rock, AK Democratic party headquarters and shot Bill Gwatney, Arkansas' Democratic party chairman. Gwatney is in critical condition. The assailant fled the scene in a blue Dodge pickup truck, but police later shot and apprehended him.Here's a link to the full story.

Now, this story is pretty fucked up on its own. But what's even more fucked up is the resultant bickering in the comments section of the story.

The first comment, posted at 12:30PM CST by msparky:

good lord what an idiot!!!!! i hope they find him and hang him at the capitol

Nine minutes later, Chele0017 makes the fourth post, stating:

He was probably a republican !!

agod2some follows up Chele's comment 6 minutes later:

Damn angry conservatives. You know, one shoots-up a church, and now this? *shakes head* A liberal would never do a thing like that.

At 12:51, twenty-one minutes after the story broke on THV's website, LRSmitty sheds light on a new angle:

Hate to hear that about anybody....hope he is alright. He's probably an Obama hater. I'm a Democrat and I don't trust that rotten S.O.B. either and don't want him as president, but I'm not about to shoot anybody, just going to vote Repulican as much as it hurts.

Ten minutes later, shoecarrot chimes in on a similar note:

This has nothing to do with party lines, but if you all want to bash republicans, I would be more inclined to believe a democrat did this than a republican, just look who you have running for president... I would be very upset if I were a democrap...

isalansdell, in response to no one in particular, says:

Its getting worse.People are scared. No one has the right to kill someone else.When a muslum is on t.v holding up a sign for obama you better bet your butt I am voting for someone else.

At 1:16 CST, LRSmitty is back:

I bet it was a democrat who hates terrorists and doesn't want one running for President in our own country.

Many comments also revolve around praying for Gwatney's health and recovery. One such poster, RichieRich1961, ends his or her post with:

Society is in a downward spiral. Mothers killing their babies...brothers killing brothers. What will it take to stop its further decline...I wish I knew.

A little over half an hour later, arkman870 responds:

RichieRich1961
I agree with you. The answer I believe is God. Our moral decay and religious lack of convictions. We do not have discipline anymore anywhere. There is none in the schools, their hands are tied. These things happen and we wonder why? We are not God fearing and have no discipline.

These comments, all these comments, are fucked up. We have people blindly assuming the shooter is conservative, we have people calling for a public lynching, we have people claiming Barack Obama is a terrorist or a "rotten S.O.B.," we have people lamenting America's fearlessness in God.

Thankfully, in the midst of the mindless chatter, HOGS8403 acts as the voice of reason. She or he posts several times, but this, I believe, is his or her definitive post. From a comment left at 1:22:

Come on people!! You people are what is wrong with this country. It has nothing to do with President Bush it has nothing to do with any politician, at least our politician's would not go around saying that it was the Democrats fault or it was the Republicans fault when a tragedy like this happens.

By the way, the commenting system THV implements allows for a "Recommend" option for each post. As of now, 4:48PM EST, here is the tally of "Recommend"s for some of the posts I've quoted above:

msparky's original post: 46
Chele0017: 25
LRSmitty: 3
HOGS8403: 8