Self defense is one thing, but should we really be teaching kids to combat violence with more violence?

I can only tell from my personal experience as a child: I was constantly picked on in elementary school to the point of physical violence. So, I got to take Judo lessons. I don't even remember telling anyone but apparently the fact that I took the lessons already made them stop. I never had to actually "use" any of it, I think. Also, pretty much at the same time it turned out that the one beating me up the most was being forced to do so by a few others and we teamed up then. I don't remember enough to know which was the one thing that made it stop or if it was a combination of all of those things... What I do remember is gaining a lot of confidence from the Judo lessons. I think the most important thing about any martial arts is that people taking the courses - especially kids but adults as well - learn that its purpose isn't to fight, but to know you could fight back if you needed to and to know to avoid a dangerous situation before it happens. Yes, if someone punches you in the face you can certainly punch back to defend yourself. But it's much more important to know a danger before it's too late to walk away from it.

There was once a time when kids fight, the teachers would put them in the ring, give them heavy gloves, and let them fight until exaustion. Those were the good days.

Now, they're not to fight at all and face disciplinary action upward to expulsion.

What is this to do with the bullied? It would teach them to fight back. So what good is it to learn martial arts when you could face disciplinary action for defending oneself?

It also prevents those like Chris Kyle, from beating up bullies in the defense of the bullied. If anyone has forgotten, he remains the highest scoring American Sniper with a 150 confirmed kills in his multiple tours in Iraq.

Disclaimer: Of course there should be consequences for fighting in school as it should be a safe haven for learning. Furthermore I too believe in talking the problem out than fighting, but sometimes bullies can only learn from getting a few bruises to hurt their self-inflated ego.

There is a bigger picture we need to consider. We need more men with a warrior mentality in society. We need boys to grow up with a desire to become a Knight in shining armour not just to save the damsel, but the weak and the helpless.

By sending them to prisons, then execution either by burning at a stake or being eaten by animals?

Mmm, of course, you're Dr. Sarcasim; you don't really mean what you seemed to be saying. :)

I think learning self defense like martial arts is a good thing don't get me wrong, it would probably deter alot of kidnappings, rapes and assaults if more people knew it. However I don't think teaching a child how to punch or kick back a bully helps anything except to make the bully more angry and likely to lash out even more. I teach my kids to always tell an adult and parent if anyone is picking on them. Bullying usually starts with jeers and hurtful words before it develops into physical aggression. Teachers need to be aware of what's going on in their classroom and on the playground. If you notice a child not behaving in an age appropriate manner or shows other signs of abuse or neglect from home this is a breeding ground for bullies to grow and thrive. Students too depending on their age could be tought to look for signs that another student is having unexplained changes in mood, show signs of depression so they can alert a grownup. More is needed to help identify potential bullies and help them get out of or improve whatever situation is making them act out aggressively.

The child victims are not responsible to be the adult shrinks

I think that it's completely fine to be teaching kids martial arts as long as they understand they can't just go around kicking people. To combat bullying though...

Being an underweight, bisexual, awkward middle schooler, I know exactly what it's like to be bullied.

If they are just saying mean things, I know it's hard but just move along. If they are actually beating you up and you know martial arts, you can't fight fire with fire but just do something small but don't be the bully. Pull yourself up and like get in the stance of something or something. It really does depend on the bully, though. If they're just gonna keep coming at you, don't.

It being taught, though, I say only to responsible kids.

I don't know any karate or jujitsu or anything like that but that's my two cents.

I don't know about ya'll but I taught my self all kids of martial arts

I would like to have a personal Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and Chuck Norris pet to protect.

I did once get the better of a bully only by having him a good punch in his face when he went too far. Now this bully was hated over all and except for a few, nearly all my classmates were willing to fight him with me if I wasn't able to handle him alone.

What I also know about martial arts though is that some bullies actually deem it more of a challenge when you know the basics of martial arts. And if those bullies know martial arts themselves, as well, then we come to the same discussion as firearms. Will a gun protect you when everybody else has a gun as well? A bully is always a weakling, but that "weakling" does not always refer to physical strength, but rather to mental strength, and people who are mentally weak will sooner resort to violence, and then one good karate chop can lead to a good kung-fu kick and before you know it, it's war.
Of course, rule #1 taught in martial arts these days is that you are never allowed to use them outside the ring/mat/fill-in-what-is-applicable-here. And even when you only use them in self-defense (which can basically justify anything) you must be sure you are actually only using it for defense (for which the Eastern armless arts are initially meant) and not for the offense (which you easily get yourself into before you know it). Martial arts are not the solution to everything (something a grand master should also tell you). And when your defensive action leads to a bully coming back with a group making you fight 20-on-1, then where did your martial arts get you? (I've seen that happening A LOT when I was younger).

In the end, all a kid can do when being bullied is seek help of a responsible adult who takes them seriously. All martial arts can do is making a bad situation worse than it already is, I'm afraid.