comebacks for mean MS kids?

[Anonymous]

DS12 is facing lots of meanness at school - he is a skinny, not very strong kid and they call him 'weak', 'slow' ,etc. Not bullying, just kids being kind of nasty. He is a bit overly sensitive about it too. I think he needs to practice comebacks that will better stand up for himself. He says he can never think of a comeback so I think we need to practice these at homes. Any thoughts on how to help him build these skills? Or what specific comebacks might be useful for this situation?

[Anonymous]

Maybe call people on on being a jerk, ask what they get out of it or the famous "why are you so obsessed with me?" sentiment

[Anonymous]

My neighbor has a kid with a similar profile. She's been working with him on nonverbal responses. Like, rolling eyes. Staring for a second and then shaking head and looking away. Crossing arms and staring.

Or, just saying "so what" can be fine too.

[Anonymous]

"Oh you are a bully. Kids who bully others are often abused at home by their parents. I feel sorry for you."

"Maybe, I need to tell my mom about your bullying and she can talk to your mom? Will you get into trouble and stop being mean/nasty/homophobic/racist/InCel?'

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Oh you are a bully. Kids who bully others are often abused at home by their parents. I feel sorry for you."

"Maybe, I need to tell my mom about your bullying and she can talk to your mom? Will you get into trouble and stop being mean/nasty/homophobic/racist/InCel?'

What? No, none of this, come on. Especially not the threat to tattle. Get adults involved if needed but don’t lead with that as your retort.

Roll eyes, I like the “why are you obsessed with me?” “Yeah, so?” “Why do you even care?” I’m also ok with him picking on a weakness of this kid’s. That depends on how comfortable your child would be to doing that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Oh you are a bully. Kids who bully others are often abused at home by their parents. I feel sorry for you."

"Maybe, I need to tell my mom about your bullying and she can talk to your mom? Will you get into trouble and stop being mean/nasty/homophobic/racist/InCel?'

Do you have kids? This is terrible.

[Anonymous]

Any comeback that’s crowdsourced from a bunch of moms on the internet is probably not going to go over well with mean middle school kids. This sounds like an Onion article.

[Anonymous]

Can he practice looking unconcerned about their statements?

Sometimes this is easier for kids who don't have a fast tongue and more convincing than a memorized comeback.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any comeback that’s crowdsourced from a bunch of moms on the internet is probably not going to go over well with mean middle school kids. This sounds like an Onion article.

True. When I was picked on in ms for being scrawny and poor, I punched whoever said it or, if it was a group, whoever was closest. My bony little fist hurt their stupid noses. I did this twice and, then, had a reputation for being crazy and violent. Guess who no one focked with for the rest of ms?

[Anonymous]

What makes this not bullying? If it's repeated unwanted personal comments, it's bullying. I would make sure someone at the school knows and addresses it with the kids who make those comments.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the situation but I personally would hesitate to encourage him to fight back verbally without also giving him some skills and the confidence to defend himself physically, if it came to that. Without that, I'd go with a non-verbal response. With schools the way they are, I'd also be wary of giving him any responses to use that the other kids could then turn around and make it look like he's the bully instead of the victim. Been there.

If he's overly sensitive about his physical appearance and abilities, that's what I would focus energy on. If he wants to get stronger, help him. Then when kids call him weak, he'll be able to truly roll his eyes and let it roll off of him instead of just pretending that he's not upset.

[Anonymous]

Your mama didn't think I was slow last night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Oh you are a bully. Kids who bully others are often abused at home by their parents. I feel sorry for you."

"Maybe, I need to tell my mom about your bullying and she can talk to your mom? Will you get into trouble and stop being mean/nasty/homophobic/racist/InCel?'

OP definitely do NOT do the bolded! Then he'll get made fun of for being a tattletale who runs to tell his mommy, and who has his mommy handle things because he's too much of a baby to do it himself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Oh you are a bully. Kids who bully others are often abused at home by their parents. I feel sorry for you."

"Maybe, I need to tell my mom about your bullying and she can talk to your mom? Will you get into trouble and stop being mean/nasty/homophobic/racist/InCel?'

Do you have kids? This is terrible.

Don’t tell her she’s terrible! She’s gonna tell her mom.

[Anonymous]

"why do you care so much about my body?"