Teen Killed with Punches to the Chest

When I first saw this news story, I thought it was my lack of sleep from having a two-week old baby that was making me hallucinate.

Sadly, that was not the case.

Apparently a 15-year old teenage boy was repeatedly punched in the chest by an 18-year old teen and died of blunt force trauma to the chest.

The older boy assaulted the younger boy because the younger boy refused to go with him to fight another group of kids.

Imagine that; your son takes a stand and says he won't do something wrong, only to have an alleged "friend" turn on him and beat him to death.

As a parent, what do you do?

Could martial arts have saved that boy?  Probably.  But – what was the kid doing hanging out with that older boy anyway?

My father-in-law has a wise perspective on this.

My father-in-law is an immigrant from Taiwan – via China – who came to this country when he was fifteen years old.  He ended up graduating from Cornell University with his Phd as one of the fastest ever to earn one at that college.

He ended up retiring from IBM after a career where he helped develop fourteen patents and along the way, raised two children and put them through schools like Berkley, William and Mary and NYU for engineering, law and MBA's.

When it came to homework, how his kids spent their time and who they were hanging out with, Mr. Lee was no joke.

When he heard about this story, he said that there were kids like that in the neighborhood where his kids were raised and he refused to let the children spend time with those kids.  Period.

He was called mean; everyone's kids were afraid of him.  His own children would be considered "sheltered" and many other things.  But it worked.  Both kids are very successful and happy, with good heads on their shoulders.

We don't know this young boy's situation at home; maybe this 18 year old was a good kid and just snapped – who knows.

What we do know – and what we can learn from this situation – is that what our kids do, who they spend time with and where they go are one hundred percent our business and our responsibility.

We can't follow them around 24/7 and control every aspect of their lives, but we can give them the tools they need to be smart enough to survive and thrive.

You can get your hands on some of these tools by going to http://www.bullyrproofkids.com/index1.html and get the course, "Bully Proof Kids".  In that course, you will find 9 Tips every parent can teach their child about how to "Bully Proof" themselves from the bullies and power suckers in their lives.

Check it out today – it literally can make the difference between life and death for a child.

To you and your family's best,

Sensei Harrison Huff

P.S. – If you didn't get my earlier message, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who are members of the Bully Proof Brigade and thank you for the best wishes for my new baby girl.  I appreciate the trust you have given me by allowing me to be in your lives and act as a Coach and Sensei when it comes to the subject of Bullying and Taking Back Your Power.