Okay kids, in the poem before this one you learned about hitting “the light switch” in your mind to help you defeat the bully if you ever have to.

I introduced the Three Rs, now you’re going to learn what they mean and how to put them to good use.

Relax is the first thing you must do if the bully gets in your face.  “So, how do I Relax,” you might say?

Take a quick, quiet, deep breath, inhale and suck the air in through your nose, exhale, quietly blow the air out through your mouth quickly.  Do it two or three times.

Imagine you are pinching a balloon that you just blew air into between your thumb and index finger to keep the air inside.

As soon as you take your finger and thumb away, the air rushes out, the balloon goes limp and becomes very relaxed.

By relaxing quickly in a bad situation, especially with a bully, your muscles don’t become tense, and your mind remains clear, now you can better React.

React is to immediately decide how you’re going to allow yourself to feel about this unwanted bully situation.  Proper relaxation should help you take control.

You will either feel scared, excited, very aware or unaware of your surroundings, confident or not confident, and ready or not ready to immediately take control.

You will React in pretty much one of these ways.

Now you must decide how you’re going to Respond.  Your goal is to cause the bully to have a very bad day.

Here are ways you can Respond:  walk away from the bully as fast as you can, it may or may not be the best solution, the bully may follow you,

Run away from the bully as fast as you can, with your purpose being to quickly find a responsible adult to help you.

However, unless you’ve been taught “emergency running skills,” this may or may not be a wise thing for you to do.

The bully could possibly chase and catch you.

If you have confidence, you can try to talk your way out of the situation.  If you choose this response, you MUST look the bully straight in their eyes.

If the bully is demanding you give him/her something of yours, you can choose to do so or not.  If the bully has a weapon, give him/her what they want.  You must quickly comply.

If the bully has no weapon and he/she decides to get physical with you,

Your last response, because you have no other choice, is to maybe get physical, too.

However, to fend off a bully physically may require certain self-defense skills, especially ones where no punches are thrown by you, but the bully is put under your mental or physical control.

You will need specific training to learn these skills so your reaction can be brave and bold.

Relax, React, Respond in a bully or emergency situation must be done by you just as fast as the lights went on and off when you were “hitting the light switch.”

You will need special training and practice to Relax, React, Respond in an uncomfortable situation, in order to do so, and hopefully, without a glitch.

Al Johnson