My daughter is being bullied again.?

[Forever]

My daughter is very soon to be ten years old and I cannot imagine how this feels for you. I would be absolutely devastated that she was being bullied and astounded that nobody was taking measures to protect her.

The first thing I would do is arrange a meeting with the teacher and the principal. I would come in to the meeting with a kind demeanor. I would hand each member of the meeting a piece of paper with the definition of bullying on it, statistics for bullying and information about when bullying starts and if it is present in the first grade. I would also include any federal or state laws pertaining to bullying and its consequences. I would then state the reason I called the meeting. I would introduce myself and provide my child's name, age and grade. After the formalities, I would make it abundantly clear that the school and myself are partners in my daughters education. I would clarify that I am her first, and most important, teacher. I would continue by stating the reason I chose for my child to attend this particular school. (Because of ratings or hearing good things, do not mention the old school and what happened, it has no relevance.) I would then state that, as her mom and the final authority over her education, I choose to delegate said authority over her education to the school and reserve the right to intervene whenever I see a problem. I would then state the problem and mention that, despite efforts to communicate with the teacher and principal, the problem is ongoing and increasing in intensity and frequency.

I would continue by stating my frustration as a parent, on behalf of my child, and my astonishment that the school seems to have no policy to safeguard its student body against such behavior. I would then cite the short and long term consequences of bullying on the individual being bullied. (I would pull this resource from the internet, anything by a renowned psychiatrist will do, and provide the printed information to the school.) I would further state that it is quite clear that bullying can apply to first graders and that their refusal to acknowledge that only encourages the behavior. I would then request that they introduce a no bullying policy, a zero tolerance policy if you will, regarding the harassment of other students at school. I would add that they should make no mistake, the behavior being inflicted on your daughter by these four boys is indeed harassing in nature and constitutes bullying.

I would state that your daughter being bullied at school, and not being protected or safeguarded, serves to impede her learning by distracting her from lessons, forcing her to keep to herself and causing her to fear school, her teachers and her classmates. I would add that no student should ever have to feel that way, as school should be a safe place for learning and growing. I would add that failure on their part to identify and correct bully behavior leads to a more distracted learning environment. I would conclude by stating that this meeting is your last attempt at working with the school to protect your daughter. I would clarify that you are asking for new rules regarding how a bully is both identified and handled. I would finally state that if there is no recourse to be found with the principal and teachers, your last step will be to go directly to the school board before you consider legal action against the school for failing to provide your daughter with a safe learning environment.

After the meeting, I would write a letter to the school principal and, in it, discuss the meeting and everything that happened with these boys, the teacher and the principal to force you to call the meeting. Send this letter by certified mail, it must be certified, this way they must sign for it and cannot state they did not receive it. This is to help you should you need to take the matter to the school board or beyond.