Moms Talk

Welcome to Moms Talk, a feature here on Dixon Patch dedicated to reaching moms and families. We invite you and your circle of friends to help build a community of support here in Dixon. Additionally, you will have opportunity to ask questions or offer answers on issues and hot topics that concern you.

So grab a cup of coffee and settle in as we start the conversation today with a question from your Moms Council:

Recently in the news there has been talk about the boy who fought back when a bully was attacking him. The boy, 15 year old Casey Heynes, had reportedly been bullied for some time, and seemed to snap right before our eyes on the video.

So here’s the question: What do you tell your kids, when it comes to bullies? The “right” thing to do, many will say, is to go get an adult authority figure, but what about if none is around? Is it “defending yourself” to hit someone back who has hit you?

My answer: I always grew up being told not to fight and I would hope that my son would not ever have to. The sad thing can be, at times, adults might be around kids that are being bullied and will either be oblivious to it or not do anything about it when they know! How can we expect kids to do the right thing when the adults aren’t doing all they can to protect them?

Now, I admit, we can’t be everywhere, protecting our kids every time something happens, and kids can be quite cruel. Still, there has to be something there where a child at least feels there is an option. It is self defense when there is no one else defending the child.