A Captive Audience

Yesterday I picked my 14 year old son up from school right as school was ending. He normally rides the school bus, but I had to get him to a doctor's appointment. Anyway, as he got in the car he told me a very intereting and HIGHLY annoying tale:

One of the councellors at his Middle School (Foley, AL) brought all the kids to a mandatory assembly yesterday (each group gave up their PE time for this). At that assembly, the councellor got up and told them the Iraqi war is wrong, there is never an excuse for violence, etc., etc., liberal prattle, etc. My son, being afterall, my son, asked him, "So if someone holds me down and is beating me to death, I should just ... let it happen?!" The Councellor said, yes, he should. He also said that fighting back (violence) is never the answer. "But it should never get that far," the goober went on to say, "If you disagree with someone, just bring them to me or a teacher so I can mediate the disagreement."

Um ... yeah ... I can see how THIS would play out:

Thug: "Gimmie your lunch money, Homie! Or I'll kick your ass!"
Kid: "No, I don't believe that is the right thing to do in this instance."
Thug: "I'll kick your scrawny little white ass! Gimmie the money!"
Kid: "Wait, rather than perpetuate the cycle of violence and social sterotyping, let us take this argument before our learned councellor."
Thug: "Ah, I can see the wisdom in your words. Let us not tarry but rather we shall rush forth and seek his sage council."
[later]
Thug: "I can see now the error of my ways. Previously, by carrying on such I was pepetuating a cycle of violence and hatred. I should be ashamed, yet I shall channel that emotion in a positive light and go forth now and preach peace, love, understanding, and urge everyone to seek non-violent alternatives. We should never harm nor kill our fellow man ... except for unwanted unborn babies, of course."

Methinks, instead that there are two far mor likely outcomes:
ONE - the kid hands over his money and the thug goes on to abuse others, coming back regularly to this kid since he has proven to be easy pickings.
TWO - the kids wails the crap out of the thug and win, loose, or draw the thug decides that it's just not worth loosing his crooked little teeth to mess with THIS kid again!

Why do we insist on creating a whole generation of voluntary victims? I do not understand how we, the people of the strongest nation on this Earth, a nation born of fire and blood and constant struggle, could ever embrace the idea of being a willing victim. It is abhorrent; it is disgusting; and it is patently Un-American.

It's bad enough this liberal yahoo wants the kids to be fodder for whatever social deviant decides to pound upon them, but to hold a captive audience of impressionable young teenagers and start blathering on to them about your own political beliefs is unforgivable. Methinks this jerk needs to spend a wee bit more time in his school's history classes and a lot less time in liberal chat rooms!

I'm still undecided as to what would be the best course of action. I was thinking at first to have a word with the new pricipal there, maybe a column in the local "Sound Off", perhaps see if a local reporter might cover this on the evening news ... In any event, I'm telling as many parents as I know who have kids in that school what happened.

On a good note, my son tells me that most of the student body ignored this moron and despite their youth, seem to know better how the real world works. That, at least, is somewhat comforting.

I'm thinking of having a few words with the principal (which is a HUGE thing for me ... I do so hate confrontations), maybe a write up in the local newspaper's Sound Off column, and perhaps a "news tip" to sympathetic local reporters. I'm also telling every parent I know about it. I'm ... perturbed.