Father Pays a 17-year-old Girl to Fight His Child’s Bully

Not that there aren’t better afterschool jobs

By Jeremy Greenberg Jul 8, 2012 2:59PM

How far would you go to protect your child from a bully? If you’re Connecticut area dad Philip Prokop, you’ll allegedly hire another teenager to beat up your daughter’s tormentor. He’s being accused of inciting injury and conspiracy to commit third-degree assault. But all I will accuse him of is being a loving parent. He may not be the best role model, but at least he takes an active role in his daughter’s life. How many kids wish they’d had a father who cared enough about their safety to do something as misguided as try to have their bullies beaten up? Unfortunately, Mr. Prokop’s entire plan became a complete disaster. The assassin he hired actually got her butt kicked by the bully. And the dad, supposedly in an attempt to break up that fight, ended up laying his hands on the bully herself. At that point, you have an adult pushing someone else’s 13-year-old daughter. Bully or not, that’s still a child.

I get that this guy caused more problems than he solved by trying to take matters into his own hands. But I’ve been in the room when a slightly bigger kid has pushed one of my 4-year-old sons. It was all I could do not to physically separate him from my son. No loving parent can sit idly by while his child is being bullied or tormented. Granted, paying another child to beat up the bully is not the proper way to deal with it. But sometimes the only way to change a bully’s ways is let her have a taste of her own medicine. Although that didn’t happen, I believe Mr. Prokop had this thought in mind when he committed this loving blunder.

I think what we ultimately have here is the difference between being a good parent and a loving parent. His alleged bonehead move wasn’t good parenting, but it was the act of a loving parent.

How far would you go to stop your child from being bullied?

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Father Pays a 17-year-old Girl to Fight His Child’s Bully

Not that there aren’t better afterschool jobs

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