Thursday, September 22, 2016

Bite Me and I'll Bite You Back!

Let me tell you about the time I was completely frustrated and decided to take matters into my own hands.

Let's start from the beginning. I was enrolled in preschool at around 4 years of age. There was a male in my preschool class who decided he wanted to target me and bully me. Everyday this guy would bite me and cause physical harm. It got to the point where there were very visible marks on different parts of my body. I initially tried to voice my concerns to my teacher, but felt like none of my motions were being taken seriously. My mother eventually noticed a pattern of marks and bruises on my body and decided to do the right thing and report the incident to the preschool's Director. Again, nothing was done to resolve the issue. The issue of me being bullied, targeted and injured was still there. The person behind the violence was not being properly disciplined, so he kept doing it. At this point my mother and I were out of solutions. We had both reached out to our proper chain of command, but nothing was being done.

After using our resources and "doing the right thing" my mother decided to have a heart to heart conversation with me. She looked me in my eyes and told me to "BITE HIM BACK THE NEXT TIME HE BITES YOU". Fair enough, right? Some may even call it self-defense.

I knew the enemy would strike again, but this time I was prepared to take action. Real action! Not the action of talking it over or going to the authorities. It was evident that no one really cared to resolve the issue. So my mother and I decided on a different approach.

Of course my classmate decides he wants to bit me again, but all I could hear in my head was my mother's voice saying "BITE HIM BACK". That's exactly what I did! Not only did I bite him, but I held on for a few seconds causing more harm to him than he has ever caused to me.

After I had done the exact same thing he had been doing to me for a while, I got punished and ended up being expelled from the school.

Although this only seems like a simple story from my childhood, the lessons learned and connections to other adult and criminal events are very relevant.

We can simply go back to the basics. Treat others the way you want to be treated. If you can dish it, take it. If you've been biting me for a while and I turn around and do it to you once, don't be surprised. Don't play the victim because you're not.

Most importantly I've learned that not everyone is treated equally. Sometimes if you want your voice to be heard it's best to take action. It doesn't feel good to be targeted, huh?

To my bitters, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

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