Too soft parents create children who are bullies.

I was at the park this morning in Nashville, obviously as a visitor from overseas. Two shirtless boys kept knocking down the fort my kids were making with their friends. They were also hovering around them and spraying them with the dirt spray they’d made.

My kids told them to stop, then after a while of them not listening, they came and told me. I told them to stick up for themselves but I also asked where their parents were. They said the mum was on the phone and had told them off but half heartedly.

I was raised by a single mum of four with a bald head and tattoos who worked as a high school English teacher in government schools for 40 years. She used to confront kids who had machetes in their pants. I was raised to tolerate no bullies.

If i’m at the park and your kids is tormenting other kids and you’re being too lazy or soft to deal with it, I will be giving your kids a talking to. Firstly, calmly and politely, but more sternly if I need to.

I said to the kids sternly today “these kids have told you to stop spraying them.” Their mum saw me, hung up the phone walked over and told the kids they’d leave the park unless they stopped. Good, but another parent shouldn’t have had to tell your boys to stop harassing girls.

I encounter so many ‘too soft’ parents at parks and their kids are always the one with the worst behaviour. We don’t need to bring 90’s parenting all the way back, but we need to bring it halfway back, you know?