It is very easy to see where kids learn chutzpahdig behavior. My son was on a school bus ride home, when another boy started beating up on a smaller boy. My son, being who he is, came up to them, and got in the middle to stop the bigger boy from hitting the other one. The bigger boy grabbed my son’s glasses and deliberately twisted them to break them. Meanwhile, my son’s intervention DID stop the fight (the bus driver did nothing,and we later complained to the school about this).
When we called the parents of the bully to ask them what they would like to do about their son’s actions, the mother replied,
“That will teach your son to mind his own business! Next time, tell him to butt out!” It was obvious that the apple fell right near this tree. No remorse, no embarrassment for such behavior, MY child was the problem, because he didn’t stand by as another kid was being beaten.
If it was my child who behaved so badly I would be mortified, and want to know how we could make amends. And THEN I would make my son pay for the broken glasses (they didn’t), and ground him for fighting. I would probably also make him apologize to the kid he picked on, though now that I consider that, that might actually make things worse for the kid who was bullied.