What Steps To Take If Your Child Is Being Bullied

Joseph Ciringione | Joe Ciringione studied business and law enforcement as an undergraduate in Warwick, Rhode Island.

Bullying in any form should have no place in society. Unfortunately, it still happens, particularly in schools. It is even said that more than half of all children are involved; they can be the bully, the victim, or a witness to this type of incidences.

No parents would want to see their kid being bullied. But if it does happen, they should take the necessary steps to make sure that their child is not permanently affected by it, and that the bullying stops.

                                                  Image source: zliving.com

Ensure constructive anger

A normal response to bullying is anger, but if the family lets rage dictate their next step, the situation can worsen. The urge to immediately charge the bully, his parents, or school officials, should be avoided. Instead, it is important to channel anger into creating a constructive strategy, which involves harmoniously working with school officials.

Empathize with the child

A bullied child can feel a plethora of negative emotions in addition to hurt, including helplessness, fear, loneliness, and powerlessness. Some parents would mistakenly tell their child to toughen up or to fight back. But this could result in even more demoralization. The best thing to do is to assure the child that he has an ally in his parents.

                                                     Image source: affinitymagazine.us

Study the law

There are anti-bullying policies that schools are legally required to implement and adhere to, as well as state anti-bullying legislation that covers all forms of bullying. If bullying persists, there are legal actions that could be taken.

Venison, my dear: It’s what’s for dinner

Joseph Ciringione

When one hears the word venison, it conjures up imagery of the dishes gracing the halls of a feudal lord from medieval times. And there is an ounce of truth in this. Historically, venison refers to meat taken from wild game, usually those found in the forests owned by said lords. Although it used to refer to anything from wild hare to antelope, today it mostly refers to the most common kind of game meat available: deer.

Deer meat is common in the hunter’s table, and Sheryl and I have eaten our fair share of venison stews in the past. It’s only been recently that Sheryl and I started actually looking at the possibility of cooking it ourselves. There are a lot of ways to prepare venison that’s got us very excited.

Image source: Wikimedia.org

The venison’s flavor is reminiscent of beef, but richer and with a slightly gamey note at the end, and typically has a deep flavor owing to the deer’s diet. Much of the gamey note can be reduced by carefully removing the silver skin, a web-like membrane that covers much of the meat, and the connective tissue.

Depending on the age of the animal, you can cook them as extremely flavorful chops and steaks, have them preserved as jerky, or go by the traditional route of cooking them in a stew or chili. When ground, they make great burger sliders, and they can be used as a substitute for lamb in Middle Eastern dishes.

Image source: JamieOliver.com

Point to ponder about venison: if you’re going to hunt for it, you’re going to have to choose the animal you get it from very, very carefully. It is possible that an unhealthy animal may harbor parasites and chronic wasting disease, an illness akin to a mad cow in cattle, that make it unsafe to eat. Selection also matters in preparation. Old bucks have very tough meat and have to either be ground or marinated, whereas younger does have delectably tender meat that offers a broader variety of cooking options.

Howdy! Hunting enthusiast and amateur foodie Joe Ciringione here. Catch up to what Sheryl and I are cooking on Twitter.