A childhood anecdote...
When I was four or five years old, we had a fish tank with an assortment of small fish, and two bettas. One was particularly mean (he was blue with twinges of red on his tail). It always made me mad to watch him gang up on all the other little fishies, so one day I decided to do something about it.
I used to wake up in the middle of the night and go play in the living room, then fall back asleep on the couch. One night when I woke up, I went to the fish tank, and sure enough, the meanie was up to his old tricks. So I grabbed the fish net, scooped him out, and reached my little hand in. I gave him a few little squeezes with my finger and thumb, and told him "no." Then I placed him back in the tank and he resumed life as usual.
Apparently, I was so satisfied with having punished the fish that I never checked to see if he was bullying ever again. I must have had a lot of faith in myself.
I used to wake up in the middle of the night and go play in the living room, then fall back asleep on the couch. One night when I woke up, I went to the fish tank, and sure enough, the meanie was up to his old tricks. So I grabbed the fish net, scooped him out, and reached my little hand in. I gave him a few little squeezes with my finger and thumb, and told him "no." Then I placed him back in the tank and he resumed life as usual.
Apparently, I was so satisfied with having punished the fish that I never checked to see if he was bullying ever again. I must have had a lot of faith in myself.