KIDS WILL BE KIDS
What has the world come to?
The modern day notion of "Kids will be kids" truly knocks me off my feet. This is the beginning of the battle grounds for bullying. I am a single mother who has been fighting for my daughter’s right to attend school in a safe environment for the last 5 yrs. I can't tell you how sick it makes me feel to hear those words "kids will be kids". Its a cop out.
My daughter is ten years old and for someone who is so young, she has been through so much. The very first bullying incident that she was subjected to was when she was five years old in kindergarten. (The first of the many.). It started with one girl who verbally abused her and continued on for the next few years. As a parent we want to teach our children to stand up for themselves and learn how to handle different situations. So my first reaction, was to tell my daughter that she should answer the girl back and not let her get away with it. If all fails tell a teacher. This was my advice.
Needless to say, the bullying only got worse. On top of verbal abuse there was physical abuse by the kids. It's funny how life is, for it's bad enough that there was just the one girl but now we had a group of girls constantly abusing my daughter. The one girl who began bullying my daughter ended up gathering more girls together to join in on the fun. Surprisingly, the administrative staff also played a part in the bullying on to my daughter and myself as well.
The situation was a mess. I was in the principal's office every single day. My daughter didn't have the confidence to tell the staff what was going on because they made her feel uncomfortable and always sided with the bullies. It seemed like the kids were running the school. Nothing was done for the first four years. Everything just got swept under a rug. No OORS reports were ever made by the school. No investigations were ever conducted. All they gave me was lip service. I even approached the parents and they too fed me nonsense of how sorry they were. The fact was that nothing was being done to stop the children's behavior to my daughter. Third grade was probably one of the worst years. It was happening every single day. The kids would always either hit her or harass her verbally when she was alone. The principal liked to call this the gray area. Since no one else was around to see it, there was nothing he could do. Her teacher at that time even instigated a fight between my daughter and one of the bullies.
Can you imagine this?
A teacher telling a child that she should not be friends with another child. It's unbelievable, but it happened and the teacher admitted it to me. Even the assistant principal verbally harassed my daughter at school. One day she screamed at her in the morning, after I dropped her off , and sent her home to change shoes. My daughter was terrified. As I'm driving off, I see my nine year old daughter crying and running out of the building. Anything could have happened to her! Once a child is in school, they are responsible for the safety of that child.
Just in case you wanted to know:
There were no repercussions for the teacher's or the assistant principal's abusive actions. After I complained to the principal, I followed up with him regarding both incidents and all he said was that he talked with them.
It was very hard to get him to take action. He was so concerned with the fact that they were little girls. I went all the way to the top of the chain and contacted the superintendent. I informed her about the bullying incidents and the principal's incapability to put an end to the children's behavior for the past four years. I also let her know that one of the assistant principal's also expressed that his HANDS WERE TIED AND THERE WAS NOTHING HE COULD DO.
I felt that the administrative staff of the school was bullying me. It was not the school's finest hour. In the end the bullies were finally removed from the class.
This was no easy task and I always told my daughter that she was not alone. I stood by my daughter every step of the way, never faltering, and fought against what seemed to be a never ending nightmare.
Advice:
My advice to anyone in this type of situation is to always keep a log of everything that goes on. Keep track of names, dates, and incidents. This is your proof!
Remember:
Upon receiving a complaint, the school must issue OORS reports and conduct investigations as required by the Chancellor's Regs. Please tell someone about what is going on, for you do not have to deal with this on your own. Life will not always be like this.
No comments:
Post a Comment