Violence Isn't The Answer

...or is it?

I might get a call from the principal's office today about Lu, my 5th grader. She called me yesterday after school, in tears... she had gotten in a fight on the way home on the school bus.

There's a 6th grade boy who has been harassing her (and others) since the beginning of the school year, pretty much daily. For the most part, she just ignores him, puts up with it, uses non-violent ways of dealing with him, etc. But yesterday, he started sexually harassing her, and she snapped. According to Violet (who gleefully re-enacted the whole scene for me), Lu grabbed this kid's hair, yanked him towards her, put him in a headlock, and proceeded to punch the living tar out of the kid.

I asked Lu if he had tried to fight back; she said yes, but that he never did land anything on her because, "I know how to duck, Mom".

So what do you tell your kid when something like this happens? My co-worker (male), when hearing the story, burst out laughing and said, "Good for her! But you don't want to 'high five' her when you get home..." I did have a talk with her about how violence isn't the answer, that we should use other means and ways to solve our differences, etc., but I have to admit that secretly I'm glad she (literally) took matters into her own hands. She's been the object of much teasing and ridicule this year... I have a feeling that after the school rumor mill does its thing today, kids won't be bugging her half as much as they did before.

And I bet that Mr. 6th Grade Bully won't be harassing her (or the other girls) on the bus from now on. At least for awhile...