Quick advice needed; child bullying,effects of domestic violence

so, my daughter started at this new school from monday. she is 6 years old and in grade one.

I am living at a city near lahore and this is considered to be one of the best schools here, it a co-ed institution, girls and boys together till class 3 then girls shift to a separate all girls campus while boys remain here till A level.

Today after work I was talking to my daughter, asking her how her day was and she mentioned that an older boy had hit her while they were playing during their break time. needless to say I became alarmed but didn’t show this to her, asked her and she told me he has slapped her on the arm and often comes over to tease her calling her names etc and runs away if he sees an elder, teacher etc coming, she just started here so she hasn’t made any friends however yet, she stays with her classmates.

After I while of questioning she sensed I was going to talk to her teacher about it and she got uneasy and scared and said, mama lets not do anything about it,if he hits me another time then you can talk to the teacher, she also expressed concern that the bully will tease her even more if he gets reported, to take revenge. Since she is new maybe, that’s why or because she got scared and doesn’t want me to go anything about it she tells me she doesn’t remember the face of the boy, though I have a strong feeling she isn’t telling me the truth because of her apprehensions.

Anyway, I reassured her and I am going to see her principal tomorrow

I need advice about two issues:

  1. how to talk to her principal effectively so as to get the best possible actions? I was really angry this afternoon when I came to know about it, but told myself to calm down. no good antagonising or confronting the principal. i would welcome advice from all parents and teachers on GS but I would especially love to hear from parents living in pakistan. my experience is that here, parents need to assertive and persistent, the school staff mostly tries to brush off the matter.

i would appreciate quick replies on the above mentioned since I am going to see the principal in less than 12 hours so please quick answers :slight_smile:

  1. more of a long term advice, for those of you who don’t know I left my abusive husband with whom I had a daughter. like all abused women I was lonely and scared and reacted like most abused women do. I hid it from the world for years because of the shame.

During that time, mainly during the past 2 years whenever my husband verbally abused me or hit me and unfortunately most of times it was in front of my daughter,later on I used to tell her, don’t tell anyone that baba hit mama, don’t tell nano, don’t tell your teachers or your friends. I believe the reason she is scared to stand up is due to what she saw me doing :frowning: hiding abuse, feeling it was wrong to stand up for myself.she even repeated some of the things I used to say to her back then.
I had this talk with her, she wanted to talk about her father hitting her mother and I told her it was wrong of mama not to speak out loud about what was happening and had I been braver and told people about it and asked for help I would have had to endure it for this long.

did I do the right thing?? any other advice you would like to add so I can teach her that its wrong to suffer in silence and not speak up and how to stand up to abuse…

Thanks a lot.

Re: quick advice needed; child bullying,effects of domestic violence

  • First thing first, make sure to have a good assuring talk with your child. Sometimes kids just dont understand what really is going on (specially this young age of 6). Make sure that it in fact IS bullying and not one off argument or fight. Sometimes its hard for kids to retell the story of what really happened.

  • Make/Keep the written record of all the bullying incidents including who did it, why and when? This will come handy when you will go in and talk to any educator.

  • Identify the best person to talk to at the school. Principal might or might not always be the best person to talk to. It could be classroom teacher, principal, physical education teacher etc. I strongly stress to all parents to remain involved with their kids school. Visiting every now and then, meeting with teacher and having a short discussion about kids keep the teachers aware that you are on top of things so that if you take some problem to them later on, they look at you more positively instead of the parent who always come to them with a problems.

  • Tell them about all the incidents and how your child is getting effected with the incident. For example you can tell “XXXXX has come several times to me and told me that YYYYY has been hitting her during the lunch break. This has happened many times” and then tell about the impact “due to this XXXX is very upset and depressed and is sort of reluctant to go to school etc etc”

  • I know its hard to have a self control when it comes to matter related to our kids but dont go in demanding justice then and there and asking how its possible that this is happening without being noticed yet.. Kids who bully intentionally are smart enough to remain under the radar. Give school some time to investigate and observe

  • Ask them whats next? what action will school take on your complain?

  • Schedule a follow up meeting on the issue perhaps 2-3 weeks from initial complain date. Remain on top of things and until you are satisfied that appropriate action has been taken, do not stop. If you have talked to teacher and no action is taken, escalate and talk to principal

I am not in Pakistan but I am sure this will work for Pakistani school too. All the best!

Re: quick advice needed; child bullying,effects of domestic violence

72 views , 1 reply. wow
lol. guess people here at experts only at dealing with in laws and rishta issues…
thanks a lot decent 6 chora…
i am really grateful for your detailed reply,

Re: quick advice needed; child bullying,effects of domestic violence

I’m not in Pakistan and I wasn’t brought up there but I definitely remember being bullied by a guy in elementary school and it was miserable. What my mom did was go and talk to the boy and was really really sweet about it, just like “why don’t you guys become friends?” it wasn’t anything threatening (I don’t remember the details since it was SO long ago). Whatever it was, it worked. He was nice to me after that. Obviously I don’t know this kid and his temperament but that’s an option. If his mom seems reasonable (I don’t know if you’d know that), maybe talk to her about it? If not, then being discreet and professional but talking to the teacher/principal would be good, as well. I’m not married and no kids, so I’m not the expert here on what the “right” thing to do is but maybe you don’t need to tell your daughter about you talking to her teacher? That way she doesn’t have to be concerned about the possible consequences.

Re: Quick advice needed; child bullying,effects of domestic violence

I’m not in Pakistan, but having been in this situation I did the following:

  1. Listened.
  2. Asked if my child informed the teacher (she did) and asked how the teacher responded (disciplined other child). It became clear that this was a known problem and that my child was not the only target. The teachers were working with the child and parents to address the issues.
  3. Taught my child to respond by asserting herself. We did some role-playing and practicing of saying, “No, you cannot hit me,” loudly and clearly. This kind of response does not come naturally to a lot of kids, especially mine, so it’s important to practice, so that they are more comfortable.
  4. Reminded my child to always inform the teacher.
  5. Followed up with the teacher.

Re: Quick advice needed; child bullying,effects of domestic violence

I’m in lahore and my school definitely responded to bullying claims. I will agree with most of what everyone above is saying.

You need to make a list of times the bullying occurred. It will give your complaint more legitimacy. You also need to make contact with not only principal but also the class teacher. My principal was mostly a figurehead and didn’t know the details of day to say work. If you can contact her right hand who deals with the teachers on a one to one basis you might get better results.

You should also role play with your daughter. A child will not take verbal encouragement to heart as much as practicing physically.

Re: Quick advice needed; child bullying,effects of domestic violence

I’d go and wait for him after school. Hopefully confront him and his parents. I’d let his parents know they need to get their kid away from my kid otherwise i’ll be back to whoop their ass.

Re: Quick advice needed; child bullying,effects of domestic violence

you did the right thing by explaining to your daughter that you were wrong to bear all the abuse and to tell her to lie or hide the facts from family.
Young kids are very impressionable and have a good memory.

Just keep reinforcing this. Do not repeat what happened to you again and again but keep reminding her from time to time that we do not need to suffer abuse that she can always trust you and can tell you everything and you will always try to understand her, always be with her.
Also teach her to say ‘No’ firmly and when to say ‘No’

Wish all the strength to you and your daughter.

Re: Quick advice needed; child bullying,effects of domestic violence

I agree with SO2’s advice. Other than talking to the principal, I would recommend having a talk with your daughter and telling her that she does not deserve to be hit or disrespected by ANY one. Since she is only 6, you may have to give her a concrete action plan (for example, "if someone hits you, look at him/her, say "stop,“go to the nearest responsible adult” etc.). Role-play would be good.