Self Defence For Kids

[sherrardk]

Would it be wrong to equip my daughter with some sort of self defence to use against another child? Thing 1 is tiny compared to her peers and a big lump of a girl (the same age) is picking her up and roughly carting her around the playground against her will. The school has dealt with this before and are aware of it this time - I thought it might be easier to equip my daughter to deal with it herself (and it might stop make the other girl think twice).

[tonyav]

No it wouldn't be wrong, sherr.

[ummmm]

It wouldn't do her any harm because it deals a lot with self confidence and it's also good exercise. They won't teach her to use it against someone though.

[woofgang]

difficult one....if you mean teaching Thing 1 to hurt her tormentor, my heart wants to say go ahead but my head says no....for one thing whatever she does may not work and then tormentor might do something worse. Yes the school might take action afterwards but that won't help Thing 1 if she gets injured. I'd be putting HEAVY pressure on the school to be pre emptively dealing with this.

[sherrardk]

Thanks all - self defence is probably not right, permission to retaliate is probably better (she needs to be equipped tomorrow). School have already had other girl's parents in for bullying thing 1 and it's not worked. The girl is picking my daughter up my her ankle and wrist and swinging and carrying her around the Tarmac playground. My daughter is really small for her age and the other girl is really big for her age. We have decided that she is 'allowed' to kick the other girl in the shin - I know it's not right but maybe just knowing that she is 'all owed' will make her feel more confident (I don't think she actually will do it). Woofgang - I understand your concerns but this sort of thing has been happening to her since she started school and she's getting sick of it. The school are aware and will deal with it but they can't watch them both all the time.

[taichiperson]

Any self respecting Martial Arts school will teach respect for others, but above all will give their students self confidence. If you find a class, tell them about her problem and they will make sure that she uses her techniques wisely.

[DTCwordfan]

Taekwondo, my gals have excelled at it.....and love it.....many uses than just 'physical' confrontations as it teaches to handle crises at large.

[atalanta]

Immediately the bullies found out my son was starting Karate, they left him alone. I have recommended this to the parents of other bullied children,and it has always worked. Even if the bullies join the same class, they will stop, or the class leader ( forgotten what they call him) will give them a severe talking-to about martial arts etiquette, and/or throw them out.

[Tilly2]

I think it's a good idea to have all your children undertaking some sort of self defence classes. It will do them more good than harm.

[jourdain2]

My (then) little girls went for Karate lessons (a Summer course) because I thought it would be sensible that they had some means of self-defence. I rued this when mu 7-yr-old kidney-punched me in a fit of temper!

[taichiperson]

Atalanta - head of the school will be called Sensei, or perhaps Sifu.

[woofgang]

sherrard, if the girl is doing that to her, then that is a health and safety issue as well as a bullying one. Whatever you decide about Thing 1 and what she is allowed to do do, can I suggest that you put yet more pressure on the school, pointing out that what the girl is doing is not just bullying but could actually kill your daughter if she struck her head. Whatever level you have already taken your concern to may I suggest that you escalate it again? TBH (and I have no children) if that ws happening to one of mine, especially at this end of term, I would be removing her from school until proper action had been taken.

[Old_Geezer]

It probably wouldn't hurt for her to learn some form of self defence as an interest and exercise. But I think an individual is either the kind who can throw themselves wholeheartedly into a scrap or they're not. If someone isn't already frightening off bullies with their natural ferocity then they may well be half-hearted about hurting another and not considering getting hurt themselves, self defence training or not.

Keep complaining to the school.

[woofgang]

How did it go today sherrardk?

[sherrardk]

No problems today and I saw the girl and her mother going into school at the end of the day so I'm hoping they were going in to be 'spoken to'. Thanks for asking.

[woofgang]

I hope the school will sort it.

[sherrardk]

The deputy head dealing with it has a soft spot for all of my children (I know she shouldn't have but she does), so she'll keep on top of the situation.

[woofgang]

That must be a relief :)

[Tilly2]

Sher, is there no one on playground duty when these incidents of bullying are taking place?

[sherrardk]

There are members of staff around but I know how difficult it is keep an eye on everyone and the girl is sly enough to do it out of sight. I've got no problem with the school, the girl is a nasty piece of work who's parents have been spoken to before about her bullying my daughter.

[Tilly2]

I know that you need hawk eyes when on playground duty! :-)