Dear Queenie,
This older boy at school troubles me too much. Every time when I wake up in the morning I’m too scared to go to school. He is so big. I am 6 years old in first grade.
I told the teacher and she says every time when he troubles me she’s going to pull his ear.
Since I’ve been at this school he has been troubling me. My teacher is not doing much to help. My Mom helps me, She even went to school and talked to the teacher. Now this boy looks at me in a bad way.
I feel scared and I don’t like school any more, but my father says I have to go.
Queenie, what do I do?—Desperate child
Dear Desperate child,
I agree with your father that you have to go to school, but the adults in your life have to do more to help you handle this situation.
Ask your parents to talk to the principal of the school as well as your teacher. If they know the boy’s parents, they could also talk to them. If they don’t know the boy’s parents, the school authorities should talk to them.
You could also ask your parents to sign you up for karate or taekwondo classes. If you learn to protect yourself you will feel more confident and perhaps then this boy will have a little more respect for you. Bullies always pick on people they think can’t fight back. This boy may be much too big for you to beat, but if both of you know that you can defend yourself he will not be so quick to pick on you.
If worst comes to worst, your parents could go to the police and file a complaint of harassment against the boy. Perhaps if the police reprimand him and his parents, they will pay more attention to your complaints.
