How does a parent deal with the aftermath?  How do the parents of that kid help him to re-trust his fellow students.  Build back up his self-esteem.  Trust his school, and trust the bus driver!

I put two kids on the bus to and from school every day, and I put a  lot of trust in their driver to get them to school safe and sound.  But I digress, as usual, from my point.  

What I wanted to discuss, was at what point should a child be taught to fight back?  I've always tried to instill in my kids a non-violent approach to handling a problem.  But I think I might have to change that a bit.  

Perhaps I should tell my child that after one punch, you scream for help.  But after the 2nd one, you fight back.  And you fight back hard!  The problem with that theory:  if a child DOES defend themselves, the school districts treat them exactly as the ones who did the attacking.  They are suspended or expelled from school.  

I will say, I hope that the parents of the bullies handle their kids in the way that they should.  They should also call the parents of the victim and do anything they can to help them!

Thoughts?