Bullying in Thai schools?

[rexall]

Fri 30 Jan 2015, 11:42 am

Any of you guys have experience with your kid being bullied in school, especially if s/he is hasip-hasip (Thai-Falang) and is teased (or worse) about being a falang?

I would like to know how prevalent this is, if it has happened to your kid, if you intervened in some way, and if you and your child were able to resolve the problem.

Thanks, lah! Look forward to a helpful and interesting discussion.

Edited January 30, 2015 by metisdead
Oversize font reset to normal.

[2008bangkok]

Having 1 6 yr old boy and a 4 yr old girl it also crosses my mind but to be honest i dont think they will get it any worse than thai v thai, saying that iv just enrolled my son in ju jitsu lessons incase it happens in the future and my daughter will do the same at 6

[Crazy chef 1]

Having 1 6 yr old boy and a 4 yr old girl it also crosses my mind but to be honest i dont think they will get it any worse than thai v thai, saying that iv just enrolled my son in ju jitsu lessons incase it happens in the future and my daughter will do the same at 6

because violence solves any problem...

[rexall]

Hi 2008,

Thanks for input.

The child I am thinking of is ADHD and one of the issues is low frustration tolerance and hypersensitivity to a lot of things such as bullying. I know that it is pretty common in Thai schools, as in other countries as well. I wonder how the "normal" Thai kids get through it?

[2008bangkok]

Having 1 6 yr old boy and a 4 yr old girl it also crosses my mind but to be honest i dont think they will get it any worse than thai v thai, saying that iv just enrolled my son in ju jitsu lessons incase it happens in the future and my daughter will do the same at 6

because violence solves any problem...

Because being able to defend yourself is important especially from bullies.

[rexall]

Violence may not be a very positive solution. But is not an issue of violence vs. non-violence. The issue is how to survive for several years in a culture where bullying is part of the dynamics and "tribal culture" of being a kid in the school system.

Edited January 30, 2015 by rexall

[metisdead]

Moved to the Family and children forum.

[2008bangkok]

Bullies tend to pick on weaker people and not confident kids, learning a martial art from a young age will give the kid self confidence but also be able to defend themselves, that should make bullies think twice, obviously they could use them skills to become a bulky but them that comes down to parenting skills

[Donnie Brasco]

Hi 2008,

Thanks for input.

The child I am thinking of is ADHD and one of the issues is low frustration tolerance and hypersensitivity to a lot of things such as bullying. I know that it is pretty common in Thai schools, as in other countries as well. I wonder how the "normal" Thai kids get through it?

Get that child out of the clutches of these shoot-from-the-hip drug-peddling "child psychologists" and counsellors and the child will be fine. The parent MUST surround this kid with love and attention NOT psychotropic drugs and psychobabble.

Or trolling fest opinions from Thai Visa for gawd's sake.

[Donnie Brasco]

Hmmmmm

"Rexall"

Got it.

Never mind.

Edited January 30, 2015 by Donnie Brasco

[transam]

Bullying has always been there, any school , any country..........I put up with that shit over half a century ago......Born to be a weeee guy, bad eyes............I put up with shit..........It's what kids doooo.

Thankfully lifting weights turned my life around, shits now think about it.........

[prakhonchai nick]

My "ha-sip, ha-sip," kids are 15 and 11.

Never had any problem at school. They have many many Thai friends, and the 14/15 year old girls adore my son, regardless of the fact that he is white and has no Thai brown skin colouring. They are both fully confident, and would not take kindly (or say mai phen rai) to being bullied should that ever happen.

[northernboy]

Teach them how to get along in the society and to relate to others and hopefully they will fit in no matter there genetic mix. Thai students in the Thai school system are normally more tolerant and the international school kids but will depend on the school and students. That is just our experience.

[dotpoom]

Violence may not be a very positive solution. But is not an issue of violence vs. non-violence. The issue is how to survive for several years in a culture where bullying is part of the dynamics and "tribal culture" of being a kid in the school system.

My brother was bullied for years in school because he spoke with a country accent after moving to the big city....I learned quickly how to speak like them.......we are a very small country....would you say that too was due to the dynamic culture or "tribal culture" .....or maybe possibly down to the fact that it happens everywhere (for young and old) for no particular reason except possibly to give the bullies a false sense of superiority as they mainly have low self esteem to begin with which is not usually their own fault but as a result of past and present experiences of their own.

Edited January 30, 2015 by dotpoom

[Acharn]

Having 1 6 yr old boy and a 4 yr old girl it also crosses my mind but to be honest i dont think they will get it any worse than thai v thai, saying that iv just enrolled my son in ju jitsu lessons incase it happens in the future and my daughter will do the same at 6

because violence solves any problem...

Just ask the Carthaginians.

[Westaurel]

Kids are stupid and nasty between them. Some one are racists too.

Paradoxal in the thai society (Bangkok the most), luk kreung are beloved. But in Isaan the old fears and racism against foreigners are maybe still existant to few people (not the most who are indifferent, like foreigners or are curious) !

[rexall]

By "tribal culture," I was referring to the tribal culture of children as in "Lord of the Flies," not to ethnicity nor nationality. However, just because something is pervasive or common to a group, does not mean that a shrug-of-the-shoulders and "mai pen rai" is a rational response.

[Vogele123]

Having 1 6 yr old boy and a 4 yr old girl it also crosses my mind but to be honest i dont think they will get it any worse than thai v thai, saying that iv just enrolled my son in ju jitsu lessons incase it happens in the future and my daughter will do the same at 6

because violence solves any problem...

No, because at least his kids will be able to try to defend themselves.

However, in Thailand it usually isn't a very fair fight, especially regarding schools. The little B@ST@RDS are quite capable of just shooting you.

[hellstens]

Having 1 6 yr old boy and a 4 yr old girl it also crosses my mind but to be honest i dont think they will get it any worse than thai v thai, saying that iv just enrolled my son in ju jitsu lessons incase it happens in the future and my daughter will do the same at 6

because violence solves any problem...

You don't have any kid! right? and you don't know what ju jitsu stand for ether?

Pleas don't comment if you don't know

[rexall]

Kids are stupid and nasty between them. Some one are racists too.

Paradoxal in the thai society (Bangkok the most), luk kreung are beloved. But in Isaan the old fears and racism against foreigners are maybe still existant to few people (not the most who are indifferent, like foreigners or are curious) !

Well, yes, this is Isaan, which remains stubbornly "insular" in spite of emerging regional importance and increasing development.

This child is "different" and super-intelligent which may be as provocative as his mixed ethnicity, or it might be something else, or it might be just "rite of passage" that all the little savages have to go through, as some of you have suggested. From some of your replies, it is beginning to sound as though low frustration tolerance might be primary problem. He is aggressive when he is attacked, and I don't think he has a problem defending himself physically. In fact, from what I can tell, his physical responses to essentially emotional taunting are not appropriate. Martial arts would be great for him, but I don't think he has enough focus at this point. Maybe when he is older. We do a little bit of QiGong among other things, and just getting through the opening form of 60 seconds is a struggle. Also, this being Isaan, I would be surprised to find a martial arts class of any kind for kids around there. There was a kid's yoga class a few years ago, but I don't think it got enough support to continue.

I'm digressing. Thank you, guys, for your opinions (even Mr. Brasco's). However, if you have never spent time around a kid with full-blown ADHD, your opinions are coming from a bottomless well of ignorance. Living with an ADHD child can be like living in a hurricane until it wears families down into little, squeaky nubs, and stalls a child's chances of living life successfully. And as more than one member of a family often has it, it can be a double and tripple-whammy.

The various approaches, including medication, are of course a matter of opinion and open to debate, but it is better if the opinions are are informed rather than just knee-jerk reactions.

Edited January 30, 2015 by rexall

[laubau]

Crazy chef 1, on 30 Jan 2015 - 08:27, said:

2008bangkok, on 30 Jan 2015 - 08:18, said:

Having 1 6 yr old boy and a 4 yr old girl it also crosses my mind but to be honest i dont think they will get it any worse than thai v thai, saying that iv just enrolled my son in ju jitsu lessons incase it happens in the future and my daughter will do the same at 6

because violence solves any problem...

Huh???? For self protection!!! Your mind is still in 1969. Are you going to talk people to death who want to inflict harm upon your kids after the incident? Most children would be extremely happy that you are not their father!!!

[Crazy chef 1]

Having 1 6 yr old boy and a 4 yr old girl it also crosses my mind but to be honest i dont think they will get it any worse than thai v thai, saying that iv just enrolled my son in ju jitsu lessons incase it happens in the future and my daughter will do the same at 6

because violence solves any problem...

You don't have any kid! right? and you don't know what ju jitsu stand for ether?

Pleas don't comment if you don't know

Son,yes i do have a child.but violence will provoke violence and if you live long time enough in this beautiful place you have learned that fights most of the times are result in use of weapons and than it doesn't matter which technique you wanna use for defense...

[razer]

What's a falang? A new species or something? Well I guess cross species breeding would bring on some harassment.

[Just1Voice]

Being career military, I was stationed all over the world. I started teaching my son Shotokan when he was 5. When he was 10, and we were in Japan, some local kids decided to jump him. It didn't last long, and the parents tried to sue us. Judge was cool. He looked at the evidence, witness statements supporting my son and said: "Let's see. 4 of them tried to jump him. He kicked their butts. Sounds fair to me. Case dismissed." Then informed me that I had the right to counter sue the parents, which I didn't do.

My son, to my knowledge, has never started a fight, but he's finished quite of a few of them.

[NoshowJones]

Having 1 6 yr old boy and a 4 yr old girl it also crosses my mind but to be honest i dont think they will get it any worse than thai v thai, saying that iv just enrolled my son in ju jitsu lessons incase it happens in the future and my daughter will do the same at 6

because violence solves any problem...

Yes, if the problem is serious enough, and nothing else works, then if violence has to be used, then so be it.

[laubau]

transam, on 30 Jan 2015 - 11:52, said:

Bullying has always been there, any school , any country..........I put up with that shit over half a century ago......Born to be a weeee guy, bad eyes............I put up with shit..........It's what kids doooo.

Thankfully lifting weights turned my life around, shits now think about it.........

Lifting weights to bulk up is mostly just intimidation which might sometimes work ...but this does not teach anybody anything about being able to handle themselves in a fight. In my younger hockey playing days I was forced to hammer many body builder types and most people would have bet the house on the other guy. Get some proper fight training and forget the intimidation factor that does not always work!

[NoshowJones]

Bullies tend to pick on weaker people and not confident kids, learning a martial art from a young age will give the kid self confidence but also be able to defend themselves, that should make bullies think twice, obviously they could use them skills to become a bulky but them that comes down to parenting skills

The kids may not be able to use these skills when they get older, nine times out of ten, an experienced street fighter will beat an experienced Karate guy. There are rules in Karate fighting, but no rules in street fighting.

[laubau]

Crazy chef 1, on 30 Jan 2015 - 13:09, said:

hellstens, on 30 Jan 2015 - 12:54, said:

Crazy chef 1, on 30 Jan 2015 - 08:27, said:

2008bangkok, on 30 Jan 2015 - 08:18, said:

Having 1 6 yr old boy and a 4 yr old girl it also crosses my mind but to be honest i dont think they will get it any worse than thai v thai, saying that iv just enrolled my son in ju jitsu lessons incase it happens in the future and my daughter will do the same at 6

because violence solves any problem...

You don't have any kid! right? and you don't know what ju jitsu stand for ether?

Pleas don't comment if you don't know

Son,yes i do have a child.but violence will provoke violence and if you live long time enough in this beautiful place you have learned that fights most of the times are result in use of weapons and than it doesn't matter which technique you wanna use for defense...

...but at least they have a fighting chance! Your kids have no chance!!

[transam]

transam, on 30 Jan 2015 - 11:52, said:

Bullying has always been there, any school , any country..........I put up with that shit over half a century ago......Born to be a weeee guy, bad eyes............I put up with shit..........It's what kids doooo.

Thankfully lifting weights turned my life around, shits now think about it.........

Lifting weights to bulk up is mostly just intimidation which might sometimes work ...but this does not teach anybody anything about being able to handle themselves in a fight. In my younger hockey playing days I was forced to hammer many body builder types and most people would have bet the house on the other guy. Get some proper fight training and forget the intimidation factor that does not always work!

I did not quote what else I did..........

[lonexpat]

I've worked in Thai schools and have an 11 year old daughter.......bullying in Thai schools are very rare amongst the younger children.