My 1st grade daughter came home crying Thursday because a 4th grader hit her in the face with a ball at Adventure Club (Holiday Break Camp)and called her an idiot. Now I am not one of those parents who believes their child is an angel and does no wrong so I asked her what did she do to the little girl? She said they were playing dodge ball and she threw the ball in attempt to get the girl out and accidentally hit her in the face, she immediately apologized and the girl reacted in the manner which i stated earlier. I told my daughter that maybe she was really mad and reacted badly ( which still does not give her a reason to hit my child on purpose but at this point I was trying to calm my dauhter down) So then she tells me the girl has been picking on her and her friends all week. So i decided to talk to the Adventure Club director at her school. When i went to the school to let the teacher know what was going on she says to me the little girl in question has "an attitude problem and sometimes gets and attitude with her". My question is should I get in contact with the child's parents because if she is bullying my child and her friends I am sure she is bullying others. And in todays world children who are being bullyied don't just fight back they bring guns and shoot. So this now in my mind becomes a public safety issues. What should I do? I don't feel comfortable just leaving it alone because if it does turn into something later in their schooling then I will feel as though its my fault for not trying to prevent it early. I need advice.
Sadly it would do little good to talk to the parents most kids mirror what they see at home,this is probably the behavior that she sees at home or is allowed to have at home. It'd probably just make the girl pick on your daughter even more because she tattled. I say keep in close contact with the school and the director of the program,it may be a situation that they ask the child who is out of control to leave.
First off, the teachers and director of the Adventure Club should be dealing with the behavior as it occurs not just saying "she has an attitude problem." The actvities should be supervised at all times so why did no one intervene and provide consequences for the behavior of the 4th grader? I would keep a close eye on it and ask that the teachers be more involved.
I would not hesitate to contact the parents. I for one believe that parents should be more involved in what their kids are doing at school, at friends houses etc. If my daughter had done anything like that, I'd want to know about it so I could take appropriate action. Whether or not the parents do anything about it is up to them. Sometimes just calling someone on their behavior is enough to prevent further bullying. Sometimes not. But at least you know you did everything in your power to try to work it out.
I agree that a lot of times kids mirror the behavior that they see at home but that does not mean that you should just do nothing. If it is behavior that is mirror from home then maybe there is a problem at the girls home that need to be addressed which won't happen unless someone speaks up. If it is not a problem at home then it is possible that the childs parents aren't aware of the problem and it needs to be brought to their attention. I also agree that you should get the director more involved. Let them know that you see this as a really problem and not something to just be brushed off as just typical behavior for this girl. If nothing else, the director could act as a mediator between you and the other parents to make sure that everyone is trying to help and not just pointing fingers.
Well I think the Adventure Club director should be responsible first for addressing the other girls parents, since she witnesses the behavior firsthand. But if she won't then I would as a parent who is concerned for the safety of my child.
