Single Dad Finds Out His Son Is A Bully. Turns It Into Wholesome Teaching Moment.

Bullying can be terrifying and relentless. Finding out your own child is the perpetrator of bullying can be a difficult situation.

Normally, parents would march their child up to their victims and have them blurt out a sorry. Add on grounding for a week or two and they consider the job done.

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Patrick Forseth however prefers a different approach. When he realized his son had bullied someone in class, he turned the situation into a teachable moment.

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“I got an email a few days ago from my 9-year-old son's teacher that he had done a ‘prank’ to a fellow classmate and it ended up embarrassing the classmate and hurt his feelings.” 

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He also made no excuses for his son. “I don't care who you are, that's bullying. If you do something to somebody that you know has the potential end result of them being embarrassed in front of a class or hurt—you’re bullying.”

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Forseth sat his son Lincoln down and had a long chat regarding his actions. They talked about what the appropriate punishment would be but more than that, he wanted Lincoln to make things right on his own.

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He encouraged his son to come up with the way himself and put no further pressure on his son.

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“I demanded nothing out of him. I demanded no apology, I demanded no apology to the teacher. I told him that we have the opportunity to go back and make things right. We can't take things back, but we can try to correct things and look for forgiveness.”

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His son Lincoln finally came up with an idea. He found out that the boy he pranked also loved Pokemon. He decided to select two of his favorite cards and placed them in a new case. 

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His son was a little nervous to go and make things right but plucked up the courage to give him those cards.

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When Lincoln gave the kid the cards, he was so moved that he hugged him.

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Forseth was sure that he had taken the right approach to the situation. “I just want to encourage all parents to talk to your kids. Let's try to avoid just the swat on the butt, send them to their room. Doesn't teach them anything.”

According to Forseth teaching children how to solve their own problems prepares them for the real world. “That's what they're actually going to face in the real world once they move out of our nests.”