Thursday, January 24, 2008

Mommies, UNITE!

Some one needs to calm me down, because the mommy claws are coming out! You see, we've had an issue with a little boy at school who has been bullying Ryan and many other kids during recess. It ranges from unkind words to pushing Ryan out of line while he waits his turn to kick in kickball. Ryan or the other kids get pushed down, they fall down, they then have to go to the back of the line because this little punk hasn't gotten a taste of his own medicine yet. I say yet, because his day will come, I'm sure. (Ok, I pray.) (No one said I had to be nice, here.)

Bret and I have brought this up with the school principal and Ryan's teacher. We've been told that the school has a zero tolerance for bullying and that it will be taken care of in a delicate fashion that will not make the situation worse for the child that is being bullied. Basically, they want to catch the little punk in the act so that it doesn't look like some crazy mommy is out to protect her baby. Humph.

Two days ago I had to make a trip to school to talk Ryan into staying at school because he was upset and wanted to go home. He said his stomach hurt, but admitted that another kid had been mean to him. I didn't put two and two together until he told Bret that night that the kid was in fact, "the punk." Grrrrr.

Rest assured, they say they are taking care of it.

Case closed? No. Tonight I as I'm laying with Ryan in bed (a ritual Bret started - insert dirty look here) we are talking and I ask him if he's had anymore problems with "the punk". (We use his real name here at home, but that probably wouldn't be smart here and this is much nicer than the name that I would like to call him.) He tells me that yesterday during morning recess, "the punk" punched him in the face and Ryan fell and hit his head on the gym floor. He said he told on him, but didn't know if he got in trouble because Ryan had to go to the office to put ice on his head. The little shit punched my son in the face. I'm done being nice.

Why wasn't I called? Why is this kid still allowed around my son - or in recess for that matter?! If this kid breaks a $5,000.00 hearing aid, is his mother going to cough up the money to replace it? This obviously isn't being taken care of since it's still happening. The poor kid's lips are so chapped from nervously biting them that I'm scared to death they're going to get infected.

So I've emailed Ryan's teacher, with the purpose of explaining why he'll be glued to his Chapstick tomorrow and tactfully mentioned why I think Ryan is a bit stressed. As mad as I am and as demanding as I want to be right now - it won't get me or Ryan anywhere. So I will remain calm and nice when I call the school's principal tomorrow, but will insist that this kid be kept away from my precious little boy. Or else.

If that doesn't work they may get an unexpected visitor (plus two more in a double stroller) at recess everyday to help them out with supervision since there obviously is a lack of it.

3 comments:

maggie said...

Ugh. Terrible-ness. I know how miserable it is to go to school with that kind of bullshit going on, and I do hope that you get some resolution. It sounds like you are doing the right thing keeping very aware and staying on top of it, but I don't blame you for still being so upset and pissed off. Fingers crossed and hugs to Ryan.

Author said...

It's so hard when you, as a mother, can't do much to help a situation where your child is getting hurt. Or, there are things you can do to FEEL like you're doing something, but it would only make the situation worse.

My thoughts are with you. Best of luck getting this resolved. Props for holding your temper. The fact that you're NOT flying off the handle will make the principal/teachers/whatever more likely to pay attention to what you're saying.

Tasina said...

My blood is just boiling for you. I hope this all works out. Ryan must be incredibly cool and brave. Tell him that LOTS of people are rooting for him.