How to Handle A Bully

The scene begins with me walking down the hall of Monroe High School, Fairbanks, Alaska. The time: my freshman year at school day’s end, around the end of the first quarter. As I leave the classroom someone grabs my armful of schoolbooks, knocks me down and flees down the hallway towards the exit. After getting to my feet I got a good look at the culprit – he was someone with whom I had problems with his bullying me in the past.

That day things would change permanently.

Prior to that day I had sought aid from my dad and one of his brothers during the summer vacation. Dad was a WWII Navy vet, and his younger brother Don was a Marine veteran of the Korean War. They spent several weekends that summer teaching me how to fight. At first I was hesitant to use their method of making the bullies leave me alone, but it didn’t take too many bruises and black eyes from the bad guys before I had enough. Dad and uncle Don did not teach me the rules used in the boxing ring, rather they taught me how to use what ever I had available to defend myself. I learned some rather nasty moves that would cause certain harm to anyone who attacked me. They emphasized that gentlemanly behavior had no place in my actions when it came to self defense.

After chasing the culprit out of the school building, I was instantly attacked by him and two of his comrades. Within a matter of seconds my adrenaline levels peaked sky high and I was so determined to end this nonsense that I did not even consider trying to be defensive. I counterattacked with everything I had. To make a long story short, I was able to defeat all three of my assailants in less than five minutes. I was so stoked that it to two teachers to pull me away from my attackers.

I ended up with some minor bruises and a black eye. Each of the bullies were bloodied, bruised worse than me and frightened out of their wits. In the future when then saw me they went to the other side of the street and I never had any more trouble from them, or any one else!

The main lesson I learned had little to do with using my fist or other violent means of defense against those who seek to do me harm. Simply put it amounts to standing up on your hind legs and taking a stand. I learned to let my enemy know that I was not going to stay quiet and allow him (or them) to bully me in any way, shape or form.

Today I am beginning to wonder if a rather large portion of Americans has lost the will to stand up to the bullies of today. Allow me to identify them for you, in case you don’t recognize them as bullies. The worst of the lot includes a very large majority of the national news media. Do I need to name them? You know who they are. Then there are those of the radical political left. They include politicians in all levels of government. Also included are those in our educational systems from grade schools through colleges that are pushing radical agendas such as critical race theory and other Marxist philosophies.

I label them as bullies because they use the same tactics of fear and emotional control to shut down civil discourse, along with physical violence. You are not allowed to present your belief system in the public square without risking violent verbal (and sometimes physical) abuse. Your conservative political beliefs, along with your Christian views, are rejected. You are labeled as a hater, disruptive to good social norms, and these are the polite terms!