lot of bully

There is an old question; I have not been able to get a handle on. Why would one individual pick on or beat up another? If you look in the bible and other historical text you will find stories of these battles. Form Kane and Able to Christ and a bully.  So the problem is not a new one, we see it in the animal kingdom as well.   In my years dealing with cows I never saw a bull bully any of the other cows, yes I have seen a bull fight to retain his status as the head bull, but not bully or badger the others.  The question is “Why”?

When I was about 6, 7, or maybe 8 well some sixty years ago give or take a year or two, I was picked on or bullied by a neighborhood kid the same age or there about.  As I would go to school he would beat me up and sometimes on my way home. I would run home crying. My dad took me over to the kid house and he and the boy’s dad talk.  The beatings stopped for a week or so then he started doing it again. My dad told me I would have to fight him and stand up for myself. My mom told if I could not beat him, go after him with a stick or she would take a stick to me.  Well the next day I saw him coming for me. I saw a baseball bat lying on the lawn of a friend. I pick it up and chased the boy almost to his home. For about a week I carried a bat or a big stick and would run after him every time I saw him. His bulling came to a stop, He never brother me again. The thing that scares me is, at the time I would have killed or at least did some real bodily harm to him if I had caught him.

Sometime years later a friend of mine, his name was Dennis, he and I would hold mock fight, and when we got an audience we would stop and laugh at the on looker. Over the years I have run into bullies and found ways to disarm them with verbal assaults somewhat less painful then a black eye or broken bones.  

  

You may ask why I am writing about this. Well it is this way. My grandson, who is five years old, was beaten up by three boys, four to five years older than him, last week.  Any one of them could have whipped the tar out of him without any help, why then did it take three.  What threat does a five year old pose to a ten year old? The police were call and the boys were not charged. It seems that a law was passed that children under 12 could not be charged with assault and battery. The old axiom “boys will be boys” is behind this.  It can also be said that girls will be boys also.  

Years ago the spinach powered superhero “Popeye the sailor” was band from TV and theaters because it was said to promote violence and bullying.  Here is a Popeye cartoon; I think you will find the he won the battles with the bully Bluto. Note: in today’s rating system this is rated R for valance and adult content.

Now I have teased and made fun of people in jest, just for the fun of it, but never with malicious. I don’t see this as bulling but I could be wrong. There is a fine line between bulling and play. I don’t understand the motivation of a bully, the why of it. I would like to hear your thoughts on this subject. Here is one of mine; could it be that a bully is just acting out what he or she think is adult behavior. The adults order them to go to school, to go to bed, to do this or that and they feel powerless to live their life the way they want. So when they find someone they can force to do their will, they bully.

Thank you for your comments and stopping by God bless