DB, was the gun confiscated? I’d like to know what happened to the weapon after the incident was made known to the teachers. In Canada it would have been confiscated and destroyed.
At least that’s what happened to the tres cool NATO spring-loaded military knife that was confiscated from me after I inadvertently brought it through airport security. 
[quote=“Chewycorns”]Bassman,
I politely disagree. Every time people lecture me on “local values,” I tell them there is no such thing as “Asian values,” except to people with the mindsets of Lee Kuan Yew, Hu Jintao, or the old guard of the KMT. There are universal human values that should be respected no matter if someone is in Asia, Africa, North America, or the moon. You have to fight ignorance as hard as you can. Which is why lawyers should lean on the student, the school, and the student’s family. Sometimes tough love is the only way. 
[/quote]
That’s not what I would say, “local values” is what they, the locals, would say. It’s all about consideration for other people, something that is rare in Taiwan. Taiwanese seem to have problems with universal human values. Trouble is there is far too much ignorance to fight.
[quote]Trouble is there is far too much ignorance to fight.
[/quote]
Perhaps there are far too few people willing to educate the ignorant.
[quote=“Eric W. Lier”][quote]Trouble is there is far too much ignorance to fight.
[/quote]
Perhaps there are far too few people willing to educate the ignorant.[/quote]
They have to be willing to be educated first, and I don’t see them being willing to accept “barbarian” education or values anytime soon. Even those Taiwanese who are appalled at the state of affairs will just say “mei banfa” or “this is just the way Taiwanese is.” DB should do what he can to punish the school and teach the family a lesson about civility and the law, but it won’t go beyond that, and in the end they still won’t think they’ve done anything wrong, it’s just another foreigner stirring up trouble.
Tuition at TAS runs about US$12,000 a year (NT$169,000 for the lower grades per semester). Unlike the local public schools, TAS will listen to the “white folks”. Don’t feel bad that your son is targeted because he looks different. I know of two Taiwanese families who are trying to get their physically disabled kids into schools in Canada because the other [Taiwanese] children laugh at them on a daily basis and their Taiwanese public school teachers encourage such behavior (by doing nothing, the teachers encourage this cruel behavior). Now you think it is crazy that a mixed-race kid gets picked on because he looks different? How about a full-blooded Taiwanese girl who is stuck in a wheelchair! Now that is f*cked up. In my school district in the US, a teacher would be out the door by the end of the week w/ a huge law suit hanging over their head as well as the school district for allowing such hatred to foster.
[quote=“LittleBuddhaTW”][quote=“Eric W. Lier”][quote]Trouble is there is far too much ignorance to fight.
[/quote]
Perhaps there are far too few people willing to educate the ignorant.[/quote]
They have to be willing to be educated first, and I don’t see them being willing to accept “barbarian” education or values anytime soon. Even those Taiwanese who are appalled at the state of affairs will just say “mei banfa” or “this is just the way Taiwanese is.” DB should do what he can to punish the school and teach the family a lesson about civility and the law, but it won’t go beyond that, and in the end they still won’t think they’ve done anything wrong, it’s just another foreigner stirring up trouble.[/quote]
Exactly
But we are on the look out for a Westerner rights activist to spark our movement
“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college she attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
bob, were you raised by bumper stickers and Hallmark cards? You’ve got to be fcking kidding me with all of this let’s-hold-hands-and-sing-carols bullsht, meanwhile completely ignorning the fact that there is a child who has been shot (albeit with an air rifle, but harmed nonetheless), had rocks thrown at him, and in general bullied around by the a racist little sht, probably raised by other racist shts.
I absolutely can’t stand cultural relativists. Our friend Chewy said it best: there are universal human rights which must be upheld, regardless of the soil you’re standing on. When I read stories like this, it makes me glad that I’m in my home country, the good ol’ US of A. If something similar happened here, we wouldn’t be sitting around wondering “if” something should be done, because it would already be done. Durins’ Bane would have been notified by the teachers themselves, who would have taken it upon themselves to apologize profusely, the little f*cker with the gun would be suspended pending an explusion hearing, the gun confiscated, and the local media soaking it up (rightfully so). All of this whether or not DB wanted to file charges. Argh…DB, you were so far from “losing it” that it is a disgrace to the term. I would follow the advice from others here and do everything in my power to harm the offending child’s parents and the crappy school your son attends (within legal limits 
). Take pictures, contact the police, get a lawyer, etc. As for fears this will become “us versus them”, or whatever, who cares? The time for action is now, and if some local hicks think it’s just another rabble-rousing foreigner let loose, so be it. At least the child will get his due justice.
Are you drunk again? What does cultural relativism have to do with this? And when did I ever say that other (legal) measures should not be taken. The extra step that I suggested would take more balls than anything else suggested here and in the end would produce a more satisfying result for everybody concerned. But I supose you think that what DB needs just now is a lot of riling up from a bunch of macho yahoos.
People over react. These kids are only in grades 4 or 5 is that right?
When I was a kid there were plenty of fights at school, and not too many of them were race related. Although there was one kid called china or ch-ink and I’m pretty sure he wasn’t Asian at all as in Digby well we just didn’t have any Asians and he got beat up a few times. The point being kids fight and you can’t run and hide behind a lawyers skirts from this reality all the time. It is just nonsensical.
By the way, we were, however, armed to the teeth. Even in elementary school I had a 22 and regular access to a shotgun. We weren’t allowed to take the guns to school. They would probably have come in handy though, especially when playing British Bulldog on ashfelt.
[quote=“Fox”]People over react. These kids are only in grades 4 or 5 is that right?
When I was a kid there were plenty of fights at school, and not too many of them were race related. Although there was one kid called China or ch-ink and I’m pretty sure he wasn’t Asian at all as in Digby well we just didn’t have any Asians and he got beat up a few times. The point being kids fight and you can’t run and hide behind a lawyers skirts from this reality all the time. It is just nonsensical.
By the way, we were, however, armed to the teeth. Even in elementary school I had a 22 and regular access to a shotgun. We weren’t allowed to take the guns to school. They would probably have come in handy though, especially when playing British Bulldog on ashfelt.[/quote]
Are you serious? 
His son was SHOT WITH A BB GUN! I would like to see your answer if this happened to YOUR son. I’m sure it would be quite different.
I got shot with an air gun at primary school. Right in the cheek. The kid that shot me got the tawse for doing it and I got the tawse for having it done to me.
When I was a kid, some kids played wars with slug guns. Slug guns are airguns as well except they have a metal pellet. They are much more powerful and dangerous than a BB gun. I have been shot with one of these many times if they are the ones with the small orange pellets. They are dangerous to your eyes and sting you if you cop one at close range on your skin, but that’s about the extent of it. If it hit you on your sweater you probably wouldn’t even know you’d been hit.
What I’m saying is kids do these kinds of things and it’s not so remarkable. If I were the parent, I’d be upset because of the risk to the kids eyes. I might be upset about my child being bullied or not. As I said most of us get in fights in primary school. I got in plenty and in the end the kids I fought with more often than not I ended up being closer with than the other kids.
Yeah, kids (well, boys to be exact) shooting each other with BB guns is not that unusual; doesn’t make it acceptable though. As mentioned before, eyes are very vulnerable. I lost one of my eyes when I was nine years old: some classmates and I were playing with bamboo swords and bows and arrows.
Yeah, slug guns. A .22 lead slug from up close, right in the cheek. Didn’t go all the way through but hurt like buggery. I killed my neighbour’s rabbit with mine from my bedroom window. They’re a hell of a lot more powerful than BB guns.
But the school didn’t even confiscate the weapon? That’s pretty fucked up, IMO.
A .22 should not be underrated. It was a single .22 in the face that crippled Frank Serpico, the NYC cop that blew the whistle on police corruption, and almost killed him. It did end his career.
The .22 revolver, with hollow point ammunition, was the weapon of choice by numerous Mafia and CIA hit men over the years.
The .177 pellet, sometimes used in air guns, can be made very dangerous with a rifle that can be pumped up in air pressure.
“A Christmas Story” not withstanding, (a tradition in our family), a BB gun can be a very appropriate choice in dealing with pesky scavengers and rodents. A great training tool as well.
All said, if any of the above had been used on my son when he was growing up, there would have been hell to pay by the other boy, his parents, and the school. In an offensive situation involving premeditation; there is absolutely no difference in the action if it’s a BB gun or a .357 magnum. The response should be the same.
OOC
As a half-half who grew up in the states, I know full well what Rufus is going through. In my case, it was a bunch of New England rednecks who liked waving crosses in my face, calling me the spawn of Satan, and generally making my life miserable. BUT, what put the fear of God into them was my Dad, who I could count on to intercede if the usual name calling escalated into anything else.
Frankly, you should have done something before this thing got to the point of your kid being shot. You should have been raising holy hell the minute any sort of physical harm was being done to your kid.
Right now, and I mean RIGHT NOW, you need to take pictures of the wound, go to the police, and get that kid and/or his parents in front of the police. As I learned, school officials prefer the path of least resistance, which generally means turning a blind eye to anything bad happening. If you don’t make the bully doing this feel heat now, your son’s probably going to wind up with a beebee ball in his eye or through his throat. Or worse.
If you don’t want to go to the police because you don’t think they will do anything, fine. Give your kid a baseball bat or a lead pipe and tell him to go up to that bully and pound him until he stops moving. Yes, your son will take flak for it, but given that he’s already suffered an attempt at murder, the school officials aren’t going to press too hard. The lameness that protects that scumbag can also be put to use for your son. while the school bullies I grew up with never needed that sort of retaliation (they were never bold enough to use a beebee gun), my dad always told me that sort of physical violence was acceptable in order to defend myself.
So, in other words, stop just “looking menacing” and DO SOMETHING. Because the next time your son is not going to came away in good health.
Yeah right. Give a kid a lead pipe and tell him to pound another kid with it. :loco:
bob, you mustn’t have lived in Taiwan for very long because the lovey-dovey approach you suggest doesn’t go over well here. The parents and school will understand only one thing – a loss to their pocketbook and the shame of losing a legal battle to a foreigner … and the bratty kid who was throwing rocks and shooting BB guns at school will understand only one thing – getting the snot beaten out of him the next time he does it, because the parents sure aren’t going to teach him how to behave properly and respect others. Why do you think he acts that way? It’s because he’s got gormless, betel-nut chewing parents who could care less about other people’s “feelings.” This is the real world, and it’s not always a “nice” place.
None of you knows a thing about the specifics of this incident and yet you are all ready to jump up and thump your chests like rednecks at a wrestling match. It’s pathetic.