Reactions to verbal taunts

quote:

Originally posted by BobbleheadDoll:
It doesn't take much to get a situation to escalate.
Taking that view doesn't mean that you are a coward and stop you from defending yourself in an extrme situation.

My opinion is that because sons are athletes and maybe much stronger and bigger than most to keep anger in check. Being of competitve nature should not have anything to do with walking away because you might get hurt or hurt someone you really didn't mean to.
As far as shunning parents and kids on any team we were on, my family and myself always tried to make those that may be different feel welcome.
And I taught my kids that teasing and bullying are NOT a part of growing up. Maybe this is the teacher part in me.

I am done with this conversation, some of it doesn't make sense, to me anyway.

This is a true story. I was there. Nice area of town on a Friday night.

Two men (20 or 21 years old) were standing in line at Krystal hamburgers at 12:30am. The guy in front of them starting some "verbal taunting". It escalated. The guy in front (clearly the aggressor) threatened to go to his car and get a gun. The two men said "it is not worth it" and left line to go to their car and leave. This happened within 30 seconds.

The aggressor (front of line) went to his car and got a gun. Took shots at the guys leaving the parking lot. Just missed one guy's head. The aggressor was arrested and went to jail.

The two men left immediately and one almost died.

What is the prudent move here after someone threatens to get a gun?

Should you walk away and hope you don't die?

Or, should you drop him where he stands?

How would you handle this? How do you determine idle talk or real threat? Is there a right answer?

Not every situation is black and white as much as everyone on the internet tends to hope there is for discussion purposes. Sometimes real life gets in the way of idyllic intellectual discussion.

In my opinion the best self-defense technique is really fast feet and a shut mouth.

quote:

My opinion is that because sons are athletes and maybe much stronger and bigger than most to keep anger in check

Statistically speaking, besides gangs, athletes comprise the biggest group of bullies and fighters in HS which is commonly called jock mentality. Besides the threat of game suspension, those numbers are probably skewed even more by the fact that incidents involving athletes may be covered up by athletic departments and/or parents. IMHO, it all goes back to parents and youth coaches promoting toughness and competitive natures with young kids in sports. I plead guilty as will most youth coaches who preach that during competition it's better to hit than be hit. You don't see that aggressive behavior from the french club or choir.

Obviously this is not the rule as there are athletes that do no wrong and leave their competitive natures in the ball bag, but I feel that many athletes hate to walk away from a competitive conflict, verbal or otherwise. In todays world that is a dangerous thought process and I think todays parents and society are attempting to curb that mentality a bit .

Stay away! guys. Stay away! Stay outside after 12 am? You are asking for trouble, especially in this "freedom to bear arms" country. I know "guns don't kill people, people kill people." But if people got guns, and stupid enough to use it against people, I don't thinking you should even response to any taunting. Hey, if you spot those "Low-life" in the line, don't make any eye contact, if he starts taunting, don't response, smile and leave.

BobbleheadDoll probably know this story better. It was in Canada, some college students gathered in a bar to have a party at 4 am. One guy bumped a Jerk in the bathroom, and forgot to say sorry. Because he is so strong that he feel no need to say sorry to a little Jerk. They had an argument. A few minutes later, the Jerk went to his car, and grabed a gun, shot two male students to death in close range, just in frontof their girlfriends.
I think BHD know that story better. I believe in that situation, just one word "Sorry" or one sentence "I am really sorry" would dissolve the problem. Now we have to pay for two young man's life to keep ourself "real"? That's not worth it.

I know it happens at every age but I've seen a pattern that a majority of the violent altercations happen post HS, 19-25 yrs old? Am I off base with that opinion? Then you look at the environment and maybe conclude that the cause could be......

1. Liquor
2. Out of the nest
3. No parents to report to
4. Less school admin participation
5, A sense of endowment since you passed the HS hurdle

OR, just the first real taste of freedom and now testing of the waters to see how far you can go. It's scary because with new territory out of HS comes a new cast of characters all of whom have different backgrounds, levels of mentality, and situational acceptance.