Self-Defence

Hot on the heels of the corporal punishment debate are some stories of other perceptions regarding punishment and how with other perceptions the boundaries of punishment, violence, right and wrong etc are blurred and how some see punishment as violence and therefore wrong and how self-defence can also be seen by some in the same way.

Where the boundaries are blurred the possible consequences of not punishing wrong doers are often overlooked followed by an outright denial of any actual consequences that occur.

One of these consequences is bullying, someone told me about their son who was attacked by a bully at school and in turn fought back which stopped the bully in his tracks and prevented further attacks. This parent then received a call from a teacher condemning the sons self defence from the bully by saying in a self-righteous manner that violence is never an answer. The parent countered by asking was her son supposed to just stand there and let the bully attack him and when confronted with this question the teacher hung up.

Some people like the teacher will get a self righteous attitude and feel they don’t have to justify their position because they feel they are on the higher moral ground and don’t have answer to anyone as what they are saying is the be all and end all of the argument.

It’s very easy for that teacher and others of that mindset to take that stance because they are not the ones being attacked, feeling pain and humiliation and they are not the ones whose education suffers. They are too busy feeling morally superior while allowing others to suffer from bullying just so they can cling to the flawed reasoning that self-defence is violence and therefore wrong.

Self-defence is not violence; it is a response to being attacked. The bully is the violent one and the other person is the victim. Stop the bully and you stop the violence.

Bullying can have long-term effects on the lives of their victims. If you make someone feel bad all the time they often won’t reach their potential because they can’t see it themselves anymore. Someone who may have made anywhere from a modest to an outstanding living can find themselves going nowhere, all because they were bullied and didn’t stand up for themselves or weren’t allowed to.

And yes, there are all sorts of support/therapy services available for victims but not everyone can find them and the reality is people would be better off if they weren’t put in a position where they need these services.