My grandson advice required

[Lurker#3]

The biggest advice I’ll give anyone in terms of children, is to get them in to martial arts.

My 4 kids all hold various level belts in kickboxing, with my son being a high level brown belt at 10. It’s also a key factor in why he was signed in academy football.

Discipline, self defence, social and fitness. It’s the best thing you’ll ever do and you’ll have no worries about what your kids are enduring at school.

Completely agree. I was bullied rotten, so my dad sent me to Karate. A world championship win and a few national later the bullying stopped miraculously. And I have only had 2 births of physical confrontation in my adult life. 

This is because I have the skills I need to defend myself if it comes to it so I never get too emotional about stuff.

[wba13]

My family are all blue noses and would take the piss relentlessly and my school which was Harborne Hill was predominantly blues and villa. Everyone knew who I supported and I rode with it stuck up for myself and would never back down. Eventually as someone posted earlier as we grow up things will calm down and he will be respected for his choices.
I wish you and him well and I’m sure things will change and he will grow up to be a better person than those piss takers.

[rsbaggy2]

Although not football related, I was in a comparative situation at school. Being the only turban wearing kid from primary through to early years high school I suffered plenty of verbal and physical abuse, on one occasion requiring a short stay in hospital. Maybe learning to answer back was not the ideal riposte but I got through it and around 3rd year high school I was physically and verbally able to hold my own. In high school it got to the stage where some of those that were initially my tormentors actually backed off and in a few cases became solid friends. 

We didn't have access to self defence classes then (late 60s early 70s) but standing firm was important and the power of the spoken word was a useful tool alongside the physical tools your grandson can develop from such training. I hope you can help him through all this and if so, he will come out of it a much better and stronger person who will not be intimated by others who may hold different viewpoints.

[Duffers]

My daughter is eight and my son is five and neither have shown any interest in football to date, tempted to leave them that way.

Weirdly my other son is coming up two and has loved chasing a ball around since he's been able to crawl.

[Old Fart]

The biggest advice I’ll give anyone in terms of children, is to get them in to martial arts.

My 4 kids all hold various level belts in kickboxing, with my son being a high level brown belt at 10. It’s also a key factor in why he was signed in academy football.

Discipline, self defence, social and fitness. It’s the best thing you’ll ever do and you’ll have no worries about what your kids are enduring at school.

Completely agree. I was bullied rotten, so my dad sent me to Karate. A world championship win and a few national later the bullying stopped miraculously. And I have only had 2 births of physical confrontation in my adult life. 

This is because I have the skills I need to defend myself if it comes to it so I never get too emotional about stuff.

As someone who has trained in various martial arts over the years I would advise you to get him to a boxing club. He'll learn self discipline, it will build his confidence, and the first jab and right hook to the playground bully will put a stop to the bullying.  Boxing is the most effective thing for a real life punch up. 

 Having said that piss taking and sarcasm and learning how to cope and retaliate is part of growing up and learning how to handle situations.  If you can't find a boxing class find a krav maga class.  What I found was that the more I learned about self defence, the easier it was to keep calm and walk away without feeling cowardly.

[baggiebloke]

My daughter is eight and my son is five and neither have shown any interest in football to date, tempted to leave them that way.

Weirdly my other son is coming up two and has loved chasing a ball around since he's been able to crawl.

Careful.

You'll have The Seals at your door!

[Mullers]

Really sorry to hear this.

As others have said, if you’re able to, try taking your lad to a game. There was a recent thread on here about how people fell in love with the Albion. Mine was walking into The Hawthorns for a night match, and the floodlights hitting my eyes. My old man (a lifelong Baggie himself) still says he knew then I’d been infected and that West Brom would become a huge part of our life. Naturally, Albion lost 2-0 on the night and I cried my eyes out…it took a year or two for that to stop (the tears, not the defeats unfortunately)!

If you do manage to go, I’d keep it authentic. It pains me to see parents come to matches with cardboard signs saying “[Player], please can I have your shirt?” as the chances are, their child won’t get what they want and equally, it takes value away from the entire point of going to a football match, and places emphasis on unattainable materialism.

Sending my best to you and your grandson.

[Fido]

Being the odd one out isn't fun initially but it becomes a part of your identity later on in life. My lad is the school Albion fan and he quite likes that now he's older. The other thing that the plastics don't understand is that football fans with a blood or soil heritage know each other and have a certain respect for it. The plastics will drone on about what's happening at United, Liverpool etc. and don't realize that the real fans have all already turned off.

[Merkinagogo]

Being the odd one out isn't fun initially but it becomes a part of your identity later on in life. My lad is the school Albion fan and he quite likes that now he's older. The other thing that the plastics don't understand is that football fans with a blood or soil heritage know each other and have a certain respect for it. The plastics will drone on about what's happening at United, Liverpool etc. and don't realize that the real fans have all already turned off.

That

[Jacko]

I was the only Albion fan at school in Leicestershire. It's a badge of honour. As others have said, equip him with a few retorts. He'll be sound.