My son is six, but is the tallest in his class. He is kind, sociable and has good friends; he's also on good terms with everyone. Just recently, though, he has told me that too many games - whether with his age group or his siblings' friends from younger years - are ending up with him being wrestled to the ground, sometimes by a group of kids.
He doesn't like it, but doesn't seem able to get this across effectively. He has only once retaliated once, wrestling the other child back, and apologised straight away. The other kid was shocked (although he said it didn't really hurt, that might have been bravado) and so was ds - he was tearful for the rest of the day. He knows that he's stronger than the other kids, and I suspect that's why he doesn't fight back physically.
What I don't understand is why he doesn't tell them properly to stop - they're good kids, and have all learned to stop if someone says they don't like it. He says he does ask them to stop, and I believe him, but he needs to do it with more conviction. He just seems to want to keep the peace at all costs, but he does say it's upsetting him. I don't want him to fight back physically, and nor does he, but there must be a good way to handle this! I stop all wrestling when I see it, as do the TAs at school as a matter of policy, but we're not always standing over them.
Can anyone help with ideas on what may be behind this kind of behaviour, and strategies to help him stop this scenario recurring?