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To all of you who want your children "protected", I understand the pain you feel when you see your children going through this. But your goal is to have your child eventually become a fully-functioning, mature, independent adult, right? You really cannot shield them from all the ugliness of the world. It will make their transition to adulthood that much more difficult.
However, I do think we need to clarify. Bullying in 2nd grade isn't the same as bullying in high school. Maybe SOME intervention is needed in younger grades, but older teens really should know how to handle themselves by that time.
Your expectations are simply unrealistic. You need to teach your kid to take care of himself and therefore you won't be reliant on the non-existent ability of schools to police bullying.
What does 'take care of himself' mean? Put him in a self defense class? Teach him how to have a potty mouth so he can talk back to bullies? What should happen is that all parents SHOULD teach their kids right from wrong, unfortunately this doesn't happen all the time, which is why we end up with bullies at school. I shouldn't have to teach my son to learn to be a 'mini douche-bag'. It's the parents of bullies that are doing something wrong at home, not me because I don't condone violence and verbal abuse.
There should be certain boundaries, and respect expected from all students. It's not unrealistic to expect schools to protect kids from being harmed. I don't want the school to 'raise my kids', just make sure they are not being physically or verbally abused while on school grounds.
To all of you who want your children "protected", I understand the pain you feel when you see your children going through this. But your goal is to have your child eventually become a fully-functioning, mature, independent adult, right? You really cannot shield them from all the ugliness of the world. It will make their transition to adulthood that much more difficult.
However, I do think we need to clarify. Bullying in 2nd grade isn't the same as bullying in high school. Maybe SOME intervention is needed in younger grades, but older teens really should know how to handle themselves by that time.
Bullying is wrong in 2nd grade, just as much as it is in the 12th grade. In the real world, do you know what bullying is called? Assault and battery and is punishable by law. Bullies should learn they can't go around 'beating people up', because in the real world, that will get them jail time.
What does 'take care of himself' mean? Put him in a self defense class? Teach him how to have a potty mouth so he can talk back to bullies? What should happen is that all parents SHOULD teach their kids right from wrong, unfortunately this doesn't happen all the time, which is why we end up with bullies at school. I shouldn't have to teach my son to learn to be a 'mini douche-bag'. It's the parents of bullies that are doing something wrong at home, not me because I don't condone violence and verbal abuse.
There should be certain boundaries, and respect expected from all students. It's not unrealistic to expect schools to protect kids from being harmed. I don't want the school to 'raise my kids', just make sure they are not being physically or verbally abused while on school grounds.
The problem is what you want can never happen. You can't make other parents raise decent children. You can't expect the school to universally protect your child 100% of the time even on their grounds.
Maybe the only real solution is to teach your child how to handle the bullies. That can involve a host of approaches and yes sometimes even learning to be a mini douche-bg when the situation calls for it.
It's simply not practical to stand back and say I raised my child right, now society you need to also raise your children right and further, you need to protect my child from every kid who isn't raised right. It sounds great in theory, but it simply isn't realistic.
Bullying is wrong in 2nd grade, just as much as it is in the 12th grade. In the real world, do you know what bullying is called? Assault and battery and is punishable by law. Bullies should learn they can't go around 'beating people up', because in the real world, that will get them jail time.
Bullies will learn not to bully when one of their "victims" hauls off and rearranges their face.
Also, I thought the whole problem these days wasn't physical bullying, but mental bullying. Name calling, gossip, rumors, etc. all fueled in part by how easy it is through the wonders of tehcnology to do it virtually anonymously. You know what name calling, gossip and rumors are called in the real world? Life. Learn to deal with it.
What makes you both so confident that sending your kid to a different school is going to make them any less of a target to bullying?
If anything, I think it sends the wrong message that it is OK to run from your problems and there is no need to learn how to handle conflict.
I think after you exhausted every other option (as I mentioned) switching schools is an option. If in trying to deal with it, if it doesn't get better, then you take another path that hopefully gives a fresh start. It's not running away in my opinion if you've exhausted all other options. It's a strategy. You are correct, they may still be a target of bullying, but maybe not. I would take that chance...
What does 'take care of himself' mean? Put him in a self defense class? Teach him how to have a potty mouth so he can talk back to bullies? What should happen is that all parents SHOULD teach their kids right from wrong, unfortunately this doesn't happen all the time, which is why we end up with bullies at school. I shouldn't have to teach my son to learn to be a 'mini douche-bag'. It's the parents of bullies that are doing something wrong at home, not me because I don't condone violence and verbal abuse.
There should be certain boundaries, and respect expected from all students. It's not unrealistic to expect schools to protect kids from being harmed. I don't want the school to 'raise my kids', just make sure they are not being physically or verbally abused while on school grounds.
Sadly, this mindset is why bullying is worse these days. Too many parents are encouraging their children to remain victims by thinking their children shouldn't have to learn social skills that help them be empowered. As a result, bullying is increasing because the victims aren't being taught by how to properly deal with bullies.
If you have a child who is a victim of bullying, you're not helping the child by saying "my child shouldn't have to change." Your child could go through live being a victim in other situations, such as work or personal relationships.
Bullying is wrong in 2nd grade, just as much as it is in the 12th grade. In the real world, do you know what bullying is called? Assault and battery and is punishable by law. Bullies should learn they can't go around 'beating people up', because in the real world, that will get them jail time.
Not true at all. Yes, physically assaulting someone is punishable by law. But what if my "Susie", a co-worker starts some outlandish rumor about me and it gets around the entire building- do you really think that Susie will be arrested for "bullying" me?
The type of bullying the OP is describing is NOT punishable by law. The earlier the kid learns not to be a victim/target, the better off she'll be in the real world.
However painful it is to watch ones child being picked on at school, the greatest gift you can give them are the tools to ignore it, or fight back. For those who say this does not exist in adult life, I'd love to know what nirvana you live in, because everywhere that I have lived, even here on this site, there are bullies galore.
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