Questions on how to handle bullying 15/01/2025 08:43 - Bullying ----------------------------------- My 6yo first grader is being bullied by a boy in her class and I’m not sure how to handle it and wanted to know what to do from a teachers perspective.
We have been in school for 3 weeks now and on the 2nd day into the 2nd week my daughter got in the car and started the conversation with “I got in a fight today.” She’s one for embellishment so I asked what happened. She told me they have class jobs and hers is to bring in the lunch bucket with a buddy after recess. The boy she was buddies with wanted to carry the bin in by himself. On Monday he carried it in alone and she was upset because “it’s her job too” and I told her just to let it go and if he wanted to carry it in, just let him. On Tuesday is when the fight happened. She decided she was going to stand on business and make sure she did her job. The little boy got mad and started kicking the bucket while it was in her hands and pinching her hands so she would let go. I was frustrated that I hadn’t heard from the teacher but I also thought if this had actually happened that she would have emailed me. I decided to reach out to her asking about it seeing if my daughter’s version of events was accurate or not.
The email I received back stated “(insert child’s name)’s version of events is not far from the truth. Due to privacy reasons I cannot give you specifics about the child. I was there when the incident occurred, I made sure (said child) was ok and the principal and I are aware of the situation.”
At this point I was extremely upset. One, I didn’t ask for the child’s name but I would like an actual account of the events. Two, if my child was physically harmed, I would have liked to hear it from the school first before I heard it from my child. This school prides themselves on a zero tolerance bullying policy. Since then this boy has continued to harass my child at recess and in the classroom as well as calling her names. I understand that teachers cannot be everywhere, I also understand that you cannot completely get rid of bullying but we are 3 weeks in… this teacher only has 11 children in her class as well.
Should I just leave this alone? Should I have gotten a call about the fight? Should I reach out to the principal and ask for more details? Am I overreacting?
I am a little gun shy about the whole bullying thing, my second grader was extremely bullied last year and on the last day of school the class aid came up to me and said “I just want you to know I was aware of how much your child was bullied this year and I’m so sorry no one did anything to stop it” My daughter came home every day crying and I thought she was being sensitive. To have an adult actually confirm that this had been an issue all year and I did nothing broke my heart. I may be a little quick to jump on it this time, but I don’t want this child to go through what my other child did.
