A small-town California mayor says the the answer to beating a bully is … to become one himself.
Cameron Hamilton, the mayor of Porterville, Calif. is now ducking from the fierce blowback he got after he reportedly told a City Council meeting that bullying victims need only to “grow a pair” to defend themselves.
“I’m against bullying, but I’m getting damn tired of it being used as a mantra for everything and the ills of the world,” Hamilton said, according to KFSN-TV. “All most people have to do is grow a pair and stick up for them damn selves.”
Hamilton’s ire was in response to a Council discussion over a student-led proposal for the city to designate off-campus locations for students at local middle schools to get help dealing with bullies.
Fellow Council Member Virginia Gurrola raised a counterpoint to Hamilton’s idea, saying, “it’s hard to stand up and ‘grow a pair’ when you are maybe a 10-year-old little girl.”
“Then maybe the other 10-year-olds that think they want to stop bullying will stand up for her, instead of a safe zone and a placard and a bunch of training that goes on,” Hamilton reportedly replied.
The “safe zone” proposal has since been withdrawn.
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