Legal Steps for Bullying?

[~Seraphim ~]

I like the above. But in addition I would be happy to hear that you sued the parents and won and you got a wakeup call. At the very MINIMUM they should be paying your son's medical expenses (and probably more for harassment and the emotional anguish, costs for switching schools etc). I would hope that in addition to switching schools you would set an example for society. I really do not see how society puts up with people like this.

For sure Hike. I am trying to make a stand for my son and demand that the other children be moved. He did nothing wrong. He should not have to feel the anquish of being moved. To move him I would have to go through all his IEP once again, move his C class equipment and have him to have anxiety again to make more new friends and he just overloads when he has to deal with change. As far as it stands now the other kids have been moved away from him in the class room away from their friends and he stays with his own friends. He has his EA as his guardian on the school yard and she can not leave him for any reason. He is not allowed outside without her.

[~Seraphim ~]

I like the above. But in addition I would be happy to hear that you sued the parents and won and you got a wakeup call. At the very MINIMUM they should be paying your son's medical expenses (and probably more for harassment and the emotional anguish, costs for switching schools etc). I would hope that in addition to switching schools you would set an example for society. I really do not see how society puts up with people like this.

For sure Hike. I am trying to make a stand for my son and demand that the other children be moved. He did nothing wrong. He should not have to feel the anguish of being moved. To move him I would have to go through all his IEP once again, move his C class equipment and have him to have anxiety again to make more new friends and he just overloads when he has to deal with change. As far as it stands now the other kids have been moved away from him in the class room away from their friends and he stays with his own friends. He has his EA as his guardian on the school yard and she can not leave him for any reason. He is not allowed outside without her.

[annie24]

i agree that moving him may not be the best option. what if you move schools and he gets bullied there too? i don't mean this to sound cold, but this can be a good learning experience for your son - learning how to stand up for himself. in life, in work, we all deal with situations where people are mean to us or try to take advantage of us and you can't always run away. i would really work with him on dealing with the circumstances and evolving more self-confidence.

[~Seraphim ~]

i agree that moving him may not be the best option. what if you move schools and he gets bullied there too? i don't mean this to sound cold, but this can be a good learning experience for your son - learning how to stand up for himself. in life, in work, we all deal with situations where people are mean to us or try to take advantage of us and you can't always run away. i would really work with him on dealing with the circumstances and evolving more self-confidence.

That is what I am saying too Annie. You have to take a stand somewhere. It might as well be here because in Sept he goes onto High School. He has 5 months left in this school, in grade school. Moving him now might not be good. At work I have been horribly harrassed before and I just made my stand and I did not leave, they got fired instead because I made my stand and proved my case. He has to see you can stand and win.

[lavenderdove]

Actually if he's in a 'religious' school, that means private school, right? It is hard for public schools to expel students due to the right to an education, but not for private schools to do so, but of course they will lose the tuition money if they do expel the boys. Perhaps their motives are more financial than educational.

But if they've moved the boys and the EA accompanies your son everywhere such that he is no longer being bullied, then they have shown they are taking precautions to prevent the bullying so you might just have to let it go.

If it happens again, then i'd consider contacting the police... the police can visit the parents and possibly get the bullies into a program or juvenile detention of some sort to teach them not to do this. Police organizations usually have programs for young boys who have problems to try to keep them from becoming criminals, since bullying can be a sign they are headed that direction. Perhaps these boys need enrollment in such a program to try to straighten them out.

[~Seraphim ~]

No, it is not a private school. Here in Canada, the Catholic Board is government funded. Because they are government funded they must accept all children to be educated whether they are of Catholic faith or not. So as a publicly funded school that taxes of all go towards it is hard to have a child expelled.

I agree though Lavender....those boys need a big kick in the pants.

[FrogIsFree]

i agree that moving him may not be the best option. what if you move schools and he gets bullied there too? i don't mean this to sound cold, but this can be a good learning experience for your son - learning how to stand up for himself. in life, in work, we all deal with situations where people are mean to us or try to take advantage of us and you can't always run away. i would really work with him on dealing with the circumstances and evolving more self-confidence.

I agree in principle - education and building your son's confidence is important - it will equip him better to deal with any adult versions of the same if he is unfortunate enough to come accross them in adulthood, however there is only so much a little boy can do when a gang attack him. Several boys, even just two against one boy, can physically be impossible for him to fight off - defense lessons or not.. they know that these bullies, that's why they keep doing it.

The school needs be held accountable for their actions in punishing and preventing it from recurring and your legal rights are crucial in this.

[~Seraphim ~]

I agree in principle - education and building your son's confidence is important - it will equip him better to deal with any adult versions of the same if he is unfortunate enough to come accross them in adulthood, however there is only so much a little boy can do when a gang attack him. Several boys, even just two against one boy, can physically be impossible for him to fight off - defense lessons or not.. they know that these bullies, that's why they keep doing it.

The school needs be held accountable for their actions in punishing and preventing it from recurring and your legal rights are crucial in this.

I agree, the school needs to make a stand as well. And I might have to force them to do it, because schools seem to be reluctant to make a hard stand.

[sjjohnson89]

Oh I agree with you. They ARE cowards. Unfortunately they are big cowards and are twice my son's size so he has been a bit daunted. He is one of those little skinny fellows that has not had his growth spurt yet plus he is 9 months younger than most of his class. Two of these boys are the size of adult men.

Well then, that just shows how cowardly these bullies are. But still, the ability to make a stand is important, what he learns to do now will effect how he deals with life when hes older. I once saw a video clip of a house cat fighting of a full grown grisly bear, im not joking. The cat made a stand, made all the noise it could and did all the hissing and didnt back up, because it did not show fear and stood up to the bear the bear fled. You see, its instinct to flee at the sign of danger. There are certain tricks than can be applied to trigger this 'fight or flight' instinct. As Bruce lee said 'art of fighting without fighting', when you know how to fight you will most likely never need to. The best thing for your son right now i think is to take up martial arts ,jujitsu is what i would recommend (one of the least aggressive matial arts). As regards to the situation i am not really knowledgable enough to give any advice.

[sjjohnson89]

I agree in principle - education and building your son's confidence is important - it will equip him better to deal with any adult versions of the same if he is unfortunate enough to come accross them in adulthood, however there is only so much a little boy can do when a gang attack him. Several boys, even just two against one boy, can physically be impossible for him to fight off - defense lessons or not.. they know that these bullies, that's why they keep doing it.

The school needs be held accountable for their actions in punishing and preventing it from recurring and your legal rights are crucial in this.

While self defense lessons might not be able to make him physically fight of these bullies, it would break the image that the bullies have chosen him for. They bully him because they see him as weak, thats proabbly because he believes hes weak so they see it. If he has inner confidence that you can get through martial arts, that vibe will be seen by others and he wont be a target anymore. But the school has to get involved, if its as bad as you say they simply have to its their obligation, they should have no choice in the matter.