Bullying
I have unfortunately been bullied in my younger years, not to the extreme but enough that it affected my self esteem right up until a few years ago, mind you there were also other factors in my life that contributed to decreasing my personal self worth.
Most recently it all came crawling back to me when I saw my six year old daughter scream and cry in the middle of the night in her sleep only to wake up afraid for the morning to come. Earlier that day during dinner she had told me about an incident that occured at recess, an older boy came up to her an punched her in the ribs! She reported it to the lunch supervisor and that is where it ended. This same boy makes fun of her and intimidates her almost on a daily as they are on the same bus.
I did my part as a parent and immediately communicated the incident to the teacher who simply apologized about the incident and pointed to the obvious that she wasn't there. Later on at a parent teacher meeting I again reminded her of the incident, she said next week was anti bullying week and Maya would get some great educational information. Yet I still continued to wait and wonder what exactly was being done in order to address the actions of the bully in this particular matter.
Over two weeks went by and my daughter began to try convince me to take her to school myself or tried to pretend she was sick, I felt bad sending her to school. However I reminded her on a daily basis to trust in her teachers and tell them if anything happens, and to be brave and not afraid to stand up for herself. Maybe I went about this all wrong?
We were having our evening chat one day and she told me I have nothing to worry about because every time she notices the boy is around she hides, and that as soon as she feels she is getting a fast heart during recess out of fear that he might attack her she just runs away super fast. That's when it hit me! I cried in pain for my daughter later that night after she had gone to sleep. And in the morning she again asked me to please take her to school myself and I did. My son was not feeling well and I was unfortunately unable to stay to speak to someone, which is perfect as this gave me the opportunity to instead communicate via email, it's always a good idea to keep serious topics documented.
I had just about enough at this point and especially after running into a rude secretary at the school, so I addressed the principal, I remained proffesional yet allowed myself to truly express my dilema without holding back.
She got right on the issue at hand and two of my daughter's taeachers were in contact with me and did their best to "solve" the problem. My daughter felt much better now that people were aware of the incident, she still feels anxious and fearful at times but I am helping her cope.
All that been said, I am here left wondering about that boy; what happened to him? what were the reprecutions? How did the teachers handle this? What happened at home? How is this boy being helped? What are they doing FOR him? and The thoughts are never ending.
I Just feel this heavyness in my chest thinking about a child who is capable of attacking a little girl like this. I feel bad for the boy, where did he learn this? and what is his home environment? I hope he did not get into any harm himself after his parents were informed of what happened.
I just feel like there is anti bullying talk and supposed "help" for those affected by bullying but what about the bullies themselves!!? What are we all doing to help them?
Please don't be shy to comment below.
XOXO,
Ana
Most recently it all came crawling back to me when I saw my six year old daughter scream and cry in the middle of the night in her sleep only to wake up afraid for the morning to come. Earlier that day during dinner she had told me about an incident that occured at recess, an older boy came up to her an punched her in the ribs! She reported it to the lunch supervisor and that is where it ended. This same boy makes fun of her and intimidates her almost on a daily as they are on the same bus.
I did my part as a parent and immediately communicated the incident to the teacher who simply apologized about the incident and pointed to the obvious that she wasn't there. Later on at a parent teacher meeting I again reminded her of the incident, she said next week was anti bullying week and Maya would get some great educational information. Yet I still continued to wait and wonder what exactly was being done in order to address the actions of the bully in this particular matter.
Over two weeks went by and my daughter began to try convince me to take her to school myself or tried to pretend she was sick, I felt bad sending her to school. However I reminded her on a daily basis to trust in her teachers and tell them if anything happens, and to be brave and not afraid to stand up for herself. Maybe I went about this all wrong?
We were having our evening chat one day and she told me I have nothing to worry about because every time she notices the boy is around she hides, and that as soon as she feels she is getting a fast heart during recess out of fear that he might attack her she just runs away super fast. That's when it hit me! I cried in pain for my daughter later that night after she had gone to sleep. And in the morning she again asked me to please take her to school myself and I did. My son was not feeling well and I was unfortunately unable to stay to speak to someone, which is perfect as this gave me the opportunity to instead communicate via email, it's always a good idea to keep serious topics documented.
I had just about enough at this point and especially after running into a rude secretary at the school, so I addressed the principal, I remained proffesional yet allowed myself to truly express my dilema without holding back.
She got right on the issue at hand and two of my daughter's taeachers were in contact with me and did their best to "solve" the problem. My daughter felt much better now that people were aware of the incident, she still feels anxious and fearful at times but I am helping her cope.
All that been said, I am here left wondering about that boy; what happened to him? what were the reprecutions? How did the teachers handle this? What happened at home? How is this boy being helped? What are they doing FOR him? and The thoughts are never ending.
I Just feel this heavyness in my chest thinking about a child who is capable of attacking a little girl like this. I feel bad for the boy, where did he learn this? and what is his home environment? I hope he did not get into any harm himself after his parents were informed of what happened.
I just feel like there is anti bullying talk and supposed "help" for those affected by bullying but what about the bullies themselves!!? What are we all doing to help them?
Please don't be shy to comment below.
XOXO,
Ana
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