Sunday, June 23, 2013

When Monsters Come to Haunt

It has been 2 weeks since the boys started going to school. Hunter has been crying every morning when we bring them to school.  At first I thought, he must be missing his dad a lot. He cries before he goes to sleep too, even after they talk to their dad via facetime. What could be bothering him?  Is he just using his dad as an excuse?
   I have been observing them for a week.  Holiday does not cry in the morning on the way to school, but I noticed that he is always not in the mood when I pick him up In the afternoon.  Hunter on the otherhand seem so happy after I fetch him. Getting worried, I tried to ask them what's been going on in school.  Do they have friends? Who are they? How is their teacher? Do they like them? Is someone fighting them in class?  There it is! I got the answers to my questions.
My kids are being bullied in school!
Holiday was being called "names" like potato head by one of his classmates.  I brought this up with the teacher during the PTC and she said that she did saw Holiday crying but he didn't want to tell her the reason why.  This incident happened again a few weeks after.  This time it was worse.  He said that the boy behind him always calls him stupid while hitting him on his head.
Hunter went through something worse.  He said that one of his classmate would always punch him, push him off the playground, bump him with his bag, and so on and so forth. I didn't waste any time.  I immediately sought the help of his teacher.  An investigation was done and they were all called by the councilor at the Child Development Center. It is a good thing that Hunter has a really good memory, so he was able to tell everything in detail and he had witnesses.
   Since I was picking up the kids from school everyday, I was eyeing on the parents of the kid offenders.  No luck!  They only have their nanny and drivers to fetch them.  When I got the chance, I talked to one of the boy's nanny.  I told her what was going on with Hunter and the boy he was caring for.  I wasn't angry that time.  I calmly told her to please talk to the boy and tell his parents that I am going to bring this up to the attention of the teacher for further investigation.  The following day, the nanny approached me and said that the mom talked to boy and the boy told them that even if they hurt him, he didn't do such things.  The nanny also reminded me that the boys' parents were both lawyers. Ooh, so what?  I already did my research and I found out that they were still students of law.  So, I just laughed at her. It takes more that that to intimidate me. The next day, the nanny went to ask for my number because she said that the mother would like to apologize to me.  I declined.  I told her that she didn't owe me an apology because I was not the one offended, it was my son.  And that the best thing they can do is to talk to their son and tell him to stay away from mine. 
      For a few weeks, Hunter was still crying every time we enter the school gates.  He is always apprehensive, anxious, and terrified of things that could happen while he was there.  Holiday on the other hand, would put his hand on Hunter's shoulder, tells his brother to stop crying and that he will be there to protect him.  Spoken like a true "kuya"!
     I thought the nightmare would never end.  I was getting worried because it is somehow affecting their behavior. Finally, it came to a halt.  No more bullying.  I was relieved.


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