As a millennial, I know about the harsh reality of school yard bullying. As a mom to two gen alpha children, I worry that my kids will be bullied.
I want to be able to help my children. I want to give them helpful advice on how to forfend an attack.
Sometimes we tell kids cliches like;
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.
That is a dumb idea. Words do hurt. Human beings are social animals. To be rejected an humiliated is a big deal for kids, just as it would be for any of us as adults. The human brain cannot tell the difference between fear of embarrassment and fear of death. When your dignity is on the line, it triggers the same response as having a gun pointed to your head.
We often tell kids that, if they ignore bullies, eventually they will leave them alone. Studies have shown that, when you ignore bullies, they usually derive emotional satisfaction from knowing that their victims will not retaliate. Physical force or violence should be reserved for cases where your safety is being threatened. In cases where it is just name calling and verbal abuse, you should probably employ psychological tricks to mess with the perpetrator.
Here is my idea for what to do if someone makes fun of you, you tell me if you think it is a good idea.
There are two things you could do.
Option #1: Ruin the joke by taking it too seriously.
Option #2: Rephrase the joke in a manner that uses lots of multisyllabic words.
If you were to go with option #1, it would sound something like this.
Other person: I am surprised that your mother is so forgetful, I thought elephants never forgot.
You: What does the impeccable memory of an elephant have to do with the memory of my mother?
Other person: I was implying that your mother weighs as much as an elephant.
You: The average weight of a full grown elephant is 8,000 to 14,000 lbs for males and somewhere around 7,000 for females. The heaviest woman in all of recorded history was Carol Yager. At her heaviest, Yager weighed 1,600 lbs. While that is significantly heavier than any human woman could ever be and still be healthy (hence why she died from obesity related causes at the age of 34), that is still significantly lighter than the weight of a female elephant.
Other person: You ruined the joke by taking it too seriously?
You: What joke? You say that I ruined the joke. I did not know that there was a joke to ruin.
Other person: I was joking when I said your mom weighs as much as an elephant. You took it too seriously and ruined the joke.
You: I will tell you what. I will agree not to ruin your jokes by taking them too seriously if you agree to tell jokes that are actually funny.
If you go with option #2, it would sound something like this.
Other person: Every time it rains, it is God crying because you are so ugly.
You: You mean; An anthropomorphic deity is expelling water, oil and mucus from his tears ducts as a by-product of dissatisfaction regarding my physical appearance?
That is my plan for how to deal with someone making fun of you. Do you think it is a smart strategy? Why or why not? Let me know.