Should We Fight Back?

I have heard many people argue on this topic in favor of one extreme or the other. Some parents tell their kids to always stand up to anyone who threatens them. Others insist that we should always turn the other cheek.

What is the best answer?  There is no one-size-fits-all solution to every potentially dangerous situation.

Sometimes, shouting or fighting back will only get us into trouble that we could have possibly (probably?) avoided. Other times, turning the other cheek can just encourage bad behavior to continue.  When can taking one path or the other escalate the situation and when can it diffuse it?  There are very few clear-cut answers.

So what should we do?  I suggest considering various possible scenarios and creating strategies for dealing with them. This goes for both adults and children. The more scenarios we play out in our heads, the more prepared we will likely be if we ever find ourselves in a similar situation. Usually, verbal deescalation or avoiding a potentially bad situation completely are more productive strategies for dealing with a threat than either fighting back or doing nothing.

We can all work on this independently. But chances are that most people will spend very little time preparing for potentially life-threatening situations. Let's be serious...do you think you know the best thing to do in the seconds following your realization that we are experiencing a 7+ earthquake? Or would you know what to do if you woke up in the middle of the night to find your kitchen is engulfed in flames? It might do some good to study up on these things. And if someone approached you on the street and asked for your money, do you know what the best thing to do is?  Perhaps joining a self-defense class might be worth considering. It may not give us all the answers. But at least you could run through some scenarios and gain confidence that you would have a better chance of surviving a potentially dangerous situation.