Kids being Bullied? A bit of a rant-- with a happy ending

[luvmychicknkids]

I am so glad this has worked out well for your daughter. Being a kid these days can be so hard.

Several years ago an 11 y/o neighbor of ours hanged herself because she was being so severely bullied. That was a huge wake-up to my family. I do not tolerate ANY bullying of my children as I have seen first hand what it can do. As one of the only "out" atheist families in our school my children have been attacked verbally and physically several times. I have made sure the school understands we won't tolerate it. Now, for the most part, my children are liked and respected by most of their peers.

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:

 

[mamaKate]

My daughter was also bullied . The bully was her 4th grade teacher. I insisted the principal relocate her and when he refused, I pulled her out for home school and never looked back. My two younger children never saw the inside of a classroom- homeschooled from day 1.

 

[Buster]

My uncle taught his boys to fight and never tolerated them bullying other kids. If someone assaulted them physically, they were expected to defend themselves, but losing their tempers and hurting someone over it was not tolerated.

One time two boys pushed his older son down (the boys were all in 4th grade) and they were trying to beat him up. He ended up whipping both boys and the principle called my uncle down to talk to HIM about HIS son. He told my uncle what happened and he just looked at him and said "so why are you talking to me instead of the other boys' parents?" While he was in the office talking to the principle, his other son was pushed down in the hallway while he watched from the window. He pulled both boys out of school and his wife home schooled them for a couple of years. They both did better after that. They both train in mixed martial arts now and are 18 and 20 years old.

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Quote:
As the out non-christians in our area we went through this too.

Some girl in my DDs second grade kept following her around telling her she was going to go to hell.

I spoke to her mother about that what it means to be christian does not include bullying and the mother was embarrassed. It chilled out some but has not completely gone away. But, the other kids got tired of it and turned on the bullier. (Is that a word?)

I make sure the school knows that while I do not feel that my kids can do no wrong, they will hear from me and see me on a regular basis so... I volunteer as often as my work schedule allows, and Dh and I both go over to have lunch with the girls when we can so we see what goes on on the playground.

Luckily for us our own kids have become champions of those being bullied and are frequently the ones who stick up for the handicapped or poor kids. DD got in trouble for this the other day (She was accused of cheating when she stopped to help a slower kid who did not understand the lesson - it wasn't even a test.) and learned a valuable lesson. She said she would go ahead and accept a study hall punishment rather than let the other kids think she would back down. After much discussion DH ad I decided to let it play out and did not intervene.

I spend as much time there are I can so everyone, including the teachers know that I could turn up at any moment. But, cyber bullying is still a huge problem for the older kids. I don't know that there is any answer for this if we don't teach our kids any kind of kindness.