Noah came home on Tuesday telling me that the same boy (B.C.) who was telling the other boys to ignore Noah is now calling him a "nerd". Noah didn't know what a Nerd is and thought the boy was calling him candy. I explained to Noah what the word meant and that it is not a nice for B.C. to call him that. He seemed okay about it but I didn't want it to continue and escalate. I think it hurt Torrey & I more than Noah. "Nerd" is such a charged word for the both of us. I could see the hurt and rage in Torrey's eyes when I told him about the situation (watery eyes as I type thinking about it). Mama & Papa Bear instincts started to flair...but how are you supposed to handle these situations in a civilized manner? My awesome CHSFS forum friends helped me out (many of them are teachers or guidence counselors). They encouraged me to talk to the teacher immediately because the teacher wants to know things like this and it is apparently law that any type of bullying (physical or social) has to be documented. Apparently if a child starts a pattern of bullying then couseling in required (GO SCHOOLS!!!!) One parent made if very real to me when she said that a child at their school was punched in the nose in 6th grade but it is most definate that the kid didn't start bullying all of a sudden, it probably started in Kindergarten with no intervention. Very encouraged, I decided to send a note to the teacher explaining the situation (I hate confrontation). She took the boys aside during silent reading time and let Noah tell B.C. how he feels and made B.C. apologize. She then talked to them about how words hurt others. Noah seemed happy with this. It made me & Torrey feel much better about the whole situation. Noah has found a friend in Rachel O. , He says she is very nice and is reading chapter books just like him (He is very excited about this).
UPDATE: At Noah's Parent Teacher conference the teacher let us know that SEVERAL Parents had reported that B.C. had been bullying thier children and she was unaware.