My solution: introduce caning. It works in Singapore.

I would never make it as a professional scumbag politician. I have no tolerance or patience for bullying behavior of any sort. I was frequently the target of bullies as a kid, often getting beaten up by punks who were a foot or more taller than me and who outweighed me by at least 50 pounds. Representative Ruben Hope (Conroe) has introduced a bill that would require transfer of a victim of bullying to a different school or class. I am so tempted to use intense language here that I can barely type. This is complete bovine feces. GET RID OF THE DAMN BULLY, YOU IDIOT!!! Show some spine and beat the punk senseless with a big wooden dowel, but don't teach the victim to be a cultural victim by running him away from the situation. The bully is only going to find a new target anyway. The bully must be stopped, dead in his tracks. I don't care if you're talking about elementary kids--the bully is not just another little kid to the victim, he is a nightmare come to life.

Bullies were completely ignored, where I went to school as a kid. My solution was eventually to go stark raving mad when I got picked on, and hit back as hard as I could with whatever I could get my hands on. This meant a rock, a jagged piece of metal, a baseball bat, or a big metal pipe that was part of a baseball backstop before I ripped it free. I was extremely fortunate that I never seriously hurt anyone. (Well, one guy did bleed, but he didn't say anything to anyone about it).

I hope I don't sound like a raving lunatic with this post, but it really makes me angry. Bullies should be punished, immediately and decisively, and be allowed absolutely no tolerance.

Senator Judith "Legs" Zaffirini has another proposal that wold require bullies to attend a sensitivity course. This also makes no sense. This kind of training only works on people who have a "mature" enough mental process to understand the consequences of their transgressal. Bullies in school don't have this. They will sit in the back, roll their eyes, and make crude jokes under their breath. It works on adults because they can get fired and lose their income (or possibly even go to jail) if they break the rules. What's going to happen to a bully? Worst case: expulsion. What kind of punishment is that? The bully doesn't want to be in school anyway. He'd much rather be cut loose on the town all day so he's free to vandalize and rob untended homes while their owners are out at work for the day. How do I know? Well, I saw it happen, and I saw it happen a lot. So take your sensitivity training and shove it. I'll take a good caning any day.

tnx to Pinkdome for this rise in blood pressure