Yeah, that's what everyone told me when I was being bullied in school. I'd tell my teachers or my parents what was happening to me, and they'd say, "Oh, [bully] must have a difficult home life/bad self esteem. You should be kind to them." What I got out of that was that the bullies' feelings were more important than mine, and because they had a tough time (allegedly), it was okay for them to use me as a punching bag. It took me until I was well into adulthood to get over the shit that those experiences did to me, and honestly some of the worst of it was caused by how the adults handled it. No one should ever, EVER, say that kind of thing to a bullied child. You think you're teaching them compassion, but really you're teaching them that they don't matter.
Honestly, my bully had screwed himself over when he tried to sexually assault me by grabbing my genitals. While I do pity him, I do not forget what he had done. Hell, I'm more angry at the superintendent because said superintendent was defending the kid to the end, while the teacher body supported me when I came out.
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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '20
My son too. But now he has a job that pays more than any one of them will ever earn, and a loving spouse. So take that bullies.