One of the best things you could give your kids for Christmas this year- if they don't already have it- is an understanding of the Zero Aggression Principle.
So, ZAP your kids.
How can you make the concept simple enough for kids (or the average statist) to understand?
Perhaps like this: "You shouldn't push or hit anyone who didn't start it. You shouldn't say you are going to hit them to make them do what you want. You shouldn't have someone else hit them for you. And you should keep your hands off their stuff."
I know that explanation misses some subtleties- saying they "shouldn't" instead of that they have no right to, for example- but as they get older you can adjust it to their level of understanding.
I know a few kids this gift of understanding would benefit a lot. And it would benefit those subjected to their presence just as much.
Oh, and if you think a little book might help them out, maybe Indy-Pindy is what you are looking for.
.
This is pretty much what I was taught as a child. And where I lived it was pretty much how things worked in school. I never started a fight, but was in a couple of fights every year from junior high on. At that time the vice principle would ask witnesses "Who started the fight?". If you didn't start the fight then you were off the hook. If you started the fight then you got to clean up the grounds, cafeteria or some such. Self defense was considered the norm for the boys. I remember the first day of school when a boy complained to a teacher "That guy took my lunch!". The teacher's response was "What do you want me to do about it?"
ReplyDelete