Childlike Wonder—What I love about Parenthood

“While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.”— Anonymous

It’s common for parents to commiserate with each other regarding the challenges of raising kids. Though the task is overall an arduous one, it is the most significant and meaningful life experience most of us will ever have.

I see Parenthood as a Blessing. Regardless of whether one biologically delivered the child, parenthood in all it’s variety of ways that we come upon it, is truly a second chance for us adults to learn.  The teaching moments we may have slept through, as often adults do while under the thumb of careers, responsibilities, stress, and the like, arrive again as a wake up call, challenging us to now listen, lest we miss it again. 

Where do Bullies Learn to Bully?

“Those who can, do. Those who can’t, bully."—Tim Field

I just finished watching Anderson Cooper’s Townhall, “Bullying – It Stops Here” and couldn’t help but wonder, where are these bullies picking up on this bully behavior?

What makes a bully, a bully? Somewhere in their own personal lives they may be victimized and bullied themselves.  Kids don’t come out of the womb bullying. This is a learned behavior.  This behavior is being modeled for them, perhaps even encouraged.

This is such a multi-tiered problem. It doesn’t appear to be as simple as being birthed in schools and staying there after these bullies graduate high school. A few years ago I experienced a manager at work who was trying to manipulate and bully me. During that time I ran across a book while at B&N and purchased, Robert Sutton’s, “The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't.” The book reinforced that companies must deal head on with these bully individuals before they inflict further damage to employees and the companies they work for. You can read about Mr. Sutton's motivation to write the book here.

Surely there must be a connection between adult bullies and younger ones.