Parents these days. They're wrapped up in their kids' lives in a way that's unhealthy. Their involvement doesn't encourage them to be independent, or to solve their own problems. It stifles their growth. And forget about those parents who get the law involved in matters that concern young children -- issues like bullying, which we used to sort out at home, without outside help.
I admit these thoughts usually run through my head. But in this case, in which a Wisconsin father filed a restraining order against a 5-year-old boy who bullied his 6-year-old daughter, I say, good call, dad. Because what the bully said to her is going to blow your mind.
Brian Metzger let enough time pass -- a few months -- in which he took it easy and didn't make a whole big ta-doo about the fact that his little girl was being bothered by a classmate. Kids will be kids, right?
Except for when a kid begins physically hurting your kid and attempting to mentally abuse her with taunts and threats.
And I don't know many kids who would utter the following threat, which Metzger's little girl says her bully announced to her one day: "I want to slit your throat and watch you bleed."
He is SIX. For this girl's safety -- as well as for the safety of a whole generation of people this child will one day encounter when he's older and bigger and stronger, these words should not be taken lightly.
He should be evaluated by a school psychologist or referred to an outside therapist. His parents should be held accountable for his frightening threat. He should certainly, at the very least, be removed from this girl's class and moved to a different one.
So what did the school do? According to dad: absolutely nothing.
And that's why Metzger had every right to take out a restraining order against a small child. As a parent, you don't sit around and let your child get hurt, and you can't rely on schools to handle the situation properly, when so many have failed to do so in bullying cases. You do what you can -- whatever is in your power -- to protect your kid. In this dad's case, that was a restraining order.
Do you think this dad was right to take out a restraining order against a 5-year-old or did he go too far?
Image via Nick Lee/ Flickr