I’m sick of hearing about bullies.

Between the news, online and my kids’ own schools, you’d think bullies and bullying was the greatest problem facing the world today. It’s gotten so bad that the definintion of bullying seems to have been reduced to any possible unpleasantry your child might experience…and therein lies the problem.

We overprotect our kids WAY too much any more and in the process are leaving them ill equipped for their futures as adults when everything doesn’t go well. The world isn’t perfect and shit happens. Kids need to understand and learn to deal with this truth. I’m not saying we should allow kids to be hurt or shit on or whatever, but conflict resolution is an important part of the learning, growing and maturing process and anymore it seems like the slightest tiff, incident or moment of displeasure gets immediately squashed. The kids have blinders put on and miss an important learning experience in life.

We’re creating a generation of kids ever weaker than the last (who knew that’d be possible) because in addition to being told they do no wrong, they’re also learning that no bad happens and if it does there’s no consequences – it just gets swept under the rug. What happens when these kids hit the real world and shit hits the fan? How do these kids react as adults needing to find a way to resolve situations when they never had the trial and error of being a kids and dealing with the asshole kid in class. Where do you learn to run, fight, manipulate or whatever to defuse a situation?

I want my kids to have some unpleasantness and learn to work through it. It will make them stronger and better equipped as adults.

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And on a loosely related note, while I’m bitching about how we treat our children – if your kid can’t act appropriately in a given social or public situation, it’s not cute or funny. It’s not them ‘just being a kid’ and it’s not okay to ignore. Again, there’s a learning process here. You’re the parent. Teach! If you asshole kid is running around the restaurant, don’t just write it off. Tell your kid to sit the fuck down and act appropriately. Explain that that’s how you act in a restaurant. If your asshole kid can’t sit still for 15 minutes and be patient in any given situation, tell your kid to sit the fuck still. How the hell do you parents think your little cretins learn?

I’ll put my kids up against ANY kid in any situation and I guarantee mine will act appropriately. Why? Because they’ve been taught to. And when they’re adults they won’t be assholes because they have the skills to act appropriately and deal with situations.

Being a parent isn’t a process of just shielding your kid from the shitstorm for 18 years (or 22 years – or 30 or more years as the case seems to be for these little pussies today). It’s about letting them deal with the shitstorm when appropriate and helping them find their way through it. It won’t kill them. In fact, it will make them stronger.