What was your experience in elementary and middle school like? Although the memories of being young and carefree are sure to lift anyone’s spirits, learning how to be an adult and a social person comes with plenty of its own challenges.
For some of us, middle and elementary school probably meant dealing with a fair amount of bullying. For others, maybe we were the bullies ourselves. Although these are age-old issues, there’s still plenty of debate about how to deal with bullying in schools.
In one story out of Splendora, Texas, all of these issues recently came to a head.
Although the names remain anonymous, one mother heard that her 5th-grade son had been bullying kids at school.
In an interview with WSLS 10 News, she explained what had happened:
“He was calling other boys stupid, calling them idiots . . . I wanted to do something that would teach him why he can’t do those things. Why he needs to take other people into consideration.”
As a result of her own considerations, the concerned mother decided to take matters into her own hands. To teach her son a lesson, she made him a T-shirt that said “I am a bully” on it and made him wear it to school. She also posted photos of her son in the T-shirt on Facebook, though the post has since been taken down due to the negative comments the mom received as a result.
Needless to say, this story has generated its fair share of controversy.
The news outlet who interviewed the mother also interviewed Dr. Richard Pesikoff, a child psychiatrist who works at the Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Pesikoff had his own opinions about the incident:
“I don’t think it requires the scarlet letter, searing the letter ‘B’ on his forehead . . . Not a good idea to embarrass your child and solidify a negative identity in an elementary school child.”
Dr. Pesikoff went on to say that maybe additional aid and community resources would be helpful in properly parenting the child and in rehabilitating the bullying behavior. Still, the mother did reach out to the school before taking action.
As it turns out, the school’s counselors and teachers were behind the mother’s decision to make her son wear the shirt.
She elaborated on this in her interview:
“They were all 100% on board, they all understood why I was doing it and that for my son, this is what works.”
For their part, the school issued a written statement about what had happened to explain their position:
“Ensuring a safe physical, emotional and social environment is one of Splendora ISD’s core principles. With that in mind, our counselor checked on the child throughout the day on Friday and plans to follow up with the student and the parent early this week.”
According to the mother, her decision worked to teach her child a lesson.
As a result of what happened at school, he was treating his sisters more respectfully and seems to have understood the lesson. Still, the methods used here have still raised questions and doubts from many online commenters.
Still, what do readers think of this story? Was this situation handled appropriately or was it too much to expect the child to deal with? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Watch the full story below.
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