I watched a playground bully at work this week.
As an educator, I am trained to spot bully-traits and this youngster wasn't very hard to identify as such. The sad part of this blog is that the bully was only five, maybe six, years of age. The even more disturbing and disappointing aspect is that his mother was only feet away from him and did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to discourage her son from bullying another child.
It was frustrating to observe the dynamics happening before my very eyes. I was in another city, at a public playground, not in a situation where I had any authority whatsoever. Had the bully made any move that would have physically injured another child, I'd have spoken up in an instant. As it was, I was as much fascinated to watch the child relate to other children and the world, in general, as I was disturbed to watch.
Unfortunately, if we look closely, we can find bullies of all ages.
There are adult workplace-bullies who can make life a living hell for their co-workers or others they supervise. I realized, watching the young bully, that the learning process for this behavior certainly begins early, and, it begins with the tacet approval of adults who love and care for a child. The mother's either outright refusal to deal with her son's bully-characteristics, or her denial, or her inability......... Whatever the reason - she is part of the problem and, for that, I can see zero excuses.
I can imagine this child, on a playground at school, making life miserable for other children. Maybe it is only one child who suffers, but that is one too many.
I learned something from this experience that I wish I had not.
Adults help create bullies. That is sad, very sad, indeed.
Ancora imparo
