It’s a day every parent dreads: the day your child comes home from school and tells you they’re being bullied. It’s bad enough when it’s hurtful words, but when it gets physical, all bets are off.
Jillian Michaels agrees. The personal trainer was on Wendy Williams this week, and she talked about her response when her son was being bullied:
Like, my son’s getting bullied at school. I’m like, you knock that little s*** out! You knock him out! And she’s [Heidi] like, ‘You can’t do that! Talk it out!’
She also shared that she doesn’t know the other moms at her kids’ school because she’s not allowed to go to conferences anymore.
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I’m not allowed to go to parent/teacher things anymore because I said if my son gets whacked in the head one more time, I said, ‘You take that kid out. Grab the chair and take him out.’ So I’m not allowed to go anymore. My privileges were revoked.
I’m pretty sure the person who forbade her from going anymore was her partner, Heidi, and not the school. If it was the school, then heaven help us all.
Like any child, my kids have had altercations with other kids at school. These tend to take the form of teasing and taunting, rather than pushing and shoving. When they have told me about other kids teasing them, that alone makes me want to make the other child cry. And I could do it. You don’t even know how well I could do it. I don’t know that I have ever felt the rage that I feel when I learn that someone has hurt my kid. And this is coming from a woman who grew up as a Jets fan. But I usually don’t get involved — I tell them how to use their words, to walk away and to tell a teacher if they need to.
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I’m lucky in that my kids have never been subjected to being physically bullied. I’m lucky, my kids are lucky, my kids’ school is lucky and all of the little children are lucky. Because I cannot even imagine the anger that I would feel if I learned that some kid was putting their hands on my child. And the thing is, I’m not allowed to punch that child back. That would be wrong in a thousand different ways. But my child can.
If there comes a day when one of my kids is getting hit by another kid, you’d better believe they are going to learn how to defend themselves. I don’t know that I’d have them take the other kid out with a chair like they’re The Rock or something, but a good hard shove, or even more, would be acceptable to me. I want my kids to know that they can take care of themselves. I want them to know that sometimes, you need to hit back. I don’t want my children to get slapped around every day, and have them just take it.
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My kids know that hitting is not okay, and there would be hell to pay if they ever bullied another child or hit first. But if they’re getting punched repeatedly, they’re going to be told to punch back and get a lick in for Mommy while they’re at it.
Punch my kid once, shame on you. Punch them twice, and it’s going down.
So I say good for Jillian Michaels. And I hope that her son lands a well-timed, from-the-shoulder, core-tightened, hips-turned-in-the-direction-your-arm-is-going punch. Because you know his form will be flawless.
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