Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for September 21, 2016

Moe will now have to deal with something more dangerous than a tiger — an angry mother.

Mom, apparently, has never been bullied. She has no concept of retaliation, despite Calvin’s attempts to explain it to her.

Does what he’s wearing include his lucky spaceship underwear?

Why exactly is a six year old in grade one needing money at school ?

Both of my parents always got in the way when someone bullied me. Heck, even the principal in Junior High bullied me, and man did they put that guy in his place!

Well, bully for you, Calvin At least you know how street justice works. Keep a stiff upper lip and maybe Moe won’t split it.

Won’t be long before Calvin starts packing heat. He always does want a flame thrower.

Poor Calvin, maybe Hobbes can protect him.

Not relating to the strip, but I ended up stumbling upon this website on Facebook and randomly remembered my account from three years ago. Quite the nostalgia trip.

There is always a bigger fish: enter Moe’s mom Minni!

Bullies hope “omerta” will work so that they can go on bullying. Calvin’s Mom is right, but the intervention must be effective. Moe must not want to go there again.

Striped red shirt, black shorts, purplish shoes. Done!

A friend took a more direct approach when his kid was bullied. He confronted the bullies and told them he’d take them out and then take out their fathers, uncles etc. His kid was no longer bullied. As many state here school admin are bullies and identify with them or are scared of their parents who are bullies. In either case they do NOTHING!

OMG a Dial wall phone!!!I didn’t know this strip was from the 1960’s

yes, usually bullies get into positions of authority. and everyone else cowers. power corrupts, just like America today

@DanEd55, wall mounted dial phones didn’t go the way of the dinosaur until the mid to late 1990’s. The first cell phones started being used in the 1980’s. Few people had them, and they were as big as shoes. Most of Calvin and Hobbes ran during the 1980’s.

What… a dial telephone on the wall?

I can’t wait.

When my son was in high school he was bullied by several kids. he complained to the school VP but nothing was done. So one day he brought a knife to school and when the bullies confronted him he pulled out the knife. A teacher nearby saw the whole incident and reported it to the principal who called the police and had my son arrested. The bullies got off scott free because the school had a weapons policy but no bully policy. My son had his day in court and the judge threw out the case but warned him that taking matters into his own hands was not the right thing to do. The judge also admonished the school for doing nothing about my son’s complaint. The following year the school implemented a bullying policy.P.S. After my son stood up to the bullies they never bothered him again.

Did you notice the type of phone MOM is using?

Dunestrider — that story would be great in a Ted Rall “Worst Thing I’ve Ever Done” sequence.

At last!

Rotary dial phone? At least give her a push button one….

In 7th grade, Mike was waiting for me after school. I finally I’d had enough and clobbered him. He went home a little bloody and bruised … and HIS mom called the school. Funny thing though, is that we were friends by high school.

Contrast this to the mother who scrambled into a school bus a few years ago and decked her son’s bully. If my mom had done that, I would’ve hated her the rest of my life.

I had a problem when I was a kid. I took on the biggest goon and lost the fight, however they left me alone after that. Apparently I was too much trouble to pick on.

I was apparently too weird to pick on.

No offence to parents. But I don’t think they fully understand about bullying nowadays. They do their best to help though and that’s enough. Some parents would just tell their kids to “Toughen up”

xxx

As I recall, bullies had two kinds of parents: the kind that would defend their kid against anything short of murder (and on one occasion, defended that, too), or the kind that beat them so badly no matter what they did, that they grew up hard, and had no incentive to improve themselves.

Must be a really old toon. She is calling on a wall phone with a dial on it. Been a while.

I used to have a phone like that. It was new then.

Oh no! Grownups aren’t always around and once Moe has Calvin alone, it’s over. Calvin, don’t wear overalls: Once Moe has you by the backstrap, you’re going home with your face rearranged.

What year was this strip originally drawn in. A rotary phone?

Grade 9 in the early ‘60s was a good time for bullying. A tough kid at our school was friends with an even tougher school drop-out who was a Golden Gloves boxer (his dad was a boxer too). They once mugged me for $2.30 when I was out on my paper route. Later I had an after-school fight with the first kid, watched by a dozen or so other kids. I knocked him down then stood back to let him up. When he grabbed a stick off the ground and started swinging it, a car passing by the schoolyard stopped and the driver walked over. The tough kid and his cronies all ran off, and never bothered me again. 30 years later I saw the Golden Gloves bully at a pool tournament. He looked pretty down and out and would not meet my eyes.

I was tall and skinny in high school. Had this one bully who was always trying to pick a fight. He cold cocked me one day, I just got up and walked away. Went home, got dads 7mm rifle, went to a hill overlooking his house and put a round through the block of his truck. Nothing came of it but I’m sure he had a good idea. Never had a problem after that.

Anybody happen to notice that mom is dialing a rotary phone??

A friend’s daughter in grade 3 was being bullied by a boy. She told the teacher. Nothing happened. She told her parents. They talked to the teacher who allegedly then talked to the parents of the other child. Nothing happened. The child had followed all paths to power and none had brought any security or resolution. So, the next time he bullied her, she hauled off and whomped him one.

The bully stopped bothering her. Filled with a sense of outrage undoubtedly fueled by their own inadequate attempts to deal with the situation, the school expelled his daughter for a day and put a permanent note in her file.

What message was that sending to this young girl and others? If a male lays hands upon you in inappropriate ways or harasses you, the system won’t do anything effective and when you resort to self-protection, you will be punished.

That message runs totally contrary to everything we seem to say publicly.

Similarly, a friend’s son was being bullied on the school bus in grade 2. He told the driver. No effect. He told his teacher. No effect. He told his parents and they spoke to the school. No effect.

He went over the seat at the two who were harassing him, swinging with both fists, the next time they laid into him. Of course, he got in trouble. But the harassment ended.

We punish our kids for trying to stand up for their right to not be harassed or manhandled. How is that consistent with the laws of our countries? I know it is inconsistent with mine. The Zero Tolerance policy about violence (even in self-defense) should be retitled Zero Intelligence & Zero Discretion policy.

Does anybody read the comments before leaving one? I stopped counting after 5 comments on the rotary phone …