BORELLI CONSULTING: Recommended Reading

I've had several recent conversations with people I know and respect about how another generation of Americans is NOT being prepared for what we view as a probable (if not inevitable) future. With the Global War on Terror now in it's 7th year, and recognizing the shortage of men and women who are volunteering to put on a uniform (military or law enforcement), we agreed that our society should be concerned. After all, with no men or women to fight the war the war doesn't just go away... we lose it. The terrorists aren't just going to declare peace when we run out of people to fight: they're going to declare victory. As that would result in my children, grand children or other decendents having to live under a fundamentalist and sometimes fanatical version of a religious "law" structure, I'm simply not willing to accept defeat.

But how do we avoid it? Well, the only way we can avoid it is to fight back. Proactively we can defend ourselves but reactively our only resort is to either be subjugated or to win a defensive action. Our biggest challenge may well be to find the next generation of warriors to fight that defensive action.

Just the other day I was having a conversation with a woman who specializes in "victimology". That's not to say that she specializes in being a victim, but she studies victims, how whatever crime affected them affects some unexpected aspects of their life and how their victimization often affects their family, friends, coworkers, etc. We started to talk about victims of various crimes and she related to me that many of the people she talks to who have been victims of crimes comment on how they weren't sure what they could do to fight back. THAT took me by surprise.

Why would anyone be worried about what they can do to fight back? I had to think about that. One thing that occurred to me is that the current youngest generation of adults - meaning those between roughly 18 and 40 - have been raised in an educational atmosphere that will brook no violence of any kind for any reason under any circumstances. The "zero tolerance" policies that have been in place in our public school systems since (approximately) the late '70s, have created not one, but now TWO generations of Americans who have been taught - almost conditioned - not to commit acts of violence even in self defense.

After another few moments of thought - because I'm old and my brain works slow - I realized that the term "zero tolerance" was used differently in the academic environment than it is in the law enforcement environment. What do I mean? Let me explain.

In law enforcement, if a zero tolerance policy is put into effect, say against drugs, then the mandate is that any person caught with any amount of illegal drugs is arrested and charged no matter how small the amount. Sometimes that same zero tolerance policy could be expanded to include paraphernalia or other drug related materials. The most important word in all of that is illegal. After all, police officers working under a zero tolerance drug enforcement policy don't arrest people who they find in possession of legally prescribed drugs. Those medications are legal. The zero tolerance policy only applies to that which is illegal.

Now let's cross over into the public school realm and look at that zero tolerance policy against violence. Not all violence is illegal. On the street, as adults, we're lawfully empowered to defend ourselves committing acts of violence to resist and escape from assailants. Said more simply, when someone attacks us we can fight back without fear of arrest or legal charges. But what about in school? With the way the schools enforce the zero tolerance policy against violence, ANY student involved in a fight - even the student DEFENDING himself - is punished. To the school's way of thinking, NO violence is acceptable under the zero tolerance policy.

The first is that those students who aren't so worried about obeying the rules; those who are growing up to be wolves, preying on the weak and not feeling the least bit guilty about it; those students are being told on a regular basis that no student is going to fight back against them. If their target victim students fight back, then the school will punish them for having done so. What more can we do to empower the wolves? The predators? That's my first big issue.

The second is that the students who are the prey - those who are sheep to the wolves... they are taught to the point of near reflexive conditioning NOT to ever fight back no matter what. They are taught that if they ever fight back for any reason then they will be punished equally beside the person who attacked or victimized them. The truly criminal part in my mind is that these same students aren't told, "Oh, and this only applies here in school." Many times they are told that violence is unacceptable anytime, anywhere with no conditions or controls placed. To this I must ask in my most police and respectful tone, "WTF?"

Our school systems, which are in place to educate our youth and give them a basic foundation upon which they will build the rest of their life, are all but conditioning the masses of students to be willing victims to any violent crime. How else can this be viewed? What's worse is that this isn't the first generation to be taught such. All those over 40 years of age got a taste of this before they graduated from school. So, we potentially have a generation of teachers - those between 23 and 40 - who grew up being told violence in all its forms is unacceptable - even for self defense - and now they're teaching the same thing to the students today. Why would they do anything else? It's what they grew up being taught and therefore believing!

THIS is the new revolution that is required. Just as, all across the country, states are writing and passing "Stand Your Ground" laws, the same type of legislation should be immediately written and enacted to protect our students. Our CHILDREN should be afforded the same right of self defense as the adults in this country are. Now, before someone starts ranting about what kind of lunatic I am, I DID NOT say we should be giving our children concealed carry permits, or arming them with guns and knives. I AM saying that they should be taught:

I do firmly believe that the only way to overcome violence is with speed and aggression of greater violence. Telling the teacher what happened after the fact doesn't change that a child was victimized. Given how schools handle punishing children today, I don't see where it's anywhere near fair for one child to suffer being pushed down, punched, kicked or physically degraded while the predator child gets a stern talking to. Yeah, boy... that really hurts. In school detentions? Heavy trauma being caused there. That poor predator child might be so devestated that to reinvigorate his self esteem he has to go out and punch another three or four kids that are smaller than he is. Then again, if one of those children punched that bully in the nose, or maybe knocked a few of his teeth loose - LEGALLY in self-defense - do you think the bully might learn something?

C'mon folks. This isn't brain surgery. This is common sense. Until little Johnny the bully realizes that some intended victims AREN'T victims and that they can fight back HARD which HURTS little Johnny the bully, he has no good reason to stop bullying people.

So, how hard is this revolution to start? It's not. All it takes is for parents to teach their children NOT to be victims. Teach your children WHEN to fight back and that IT'S OKAY to do so. In fact, teach them it's NOT okay to NOT fight back. Teach them that there is something wrong with NOT fighting back! While you're doing that, write a letter to your local school board articulating in police language what you're doing. They should know that when your child defends him (or her) self in school and the school tries to punish them for it, you're not going to stand idly by while it happens. You will have to be willing, at that point, to start a letter writing campaign to all the local papers, radio stations, etc. You may have to get the PTA involved. But ultimately you have to stand by your child 110% to let them know that, no matter what the school says, THEY DID THE RIGHT THING by defending themselves.

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