Dee Dee has been dealing with a bully at school since the start of the school year.  Most of the stories she brought home made the kid sound like an annoying brat.  And, seeing the kid in action, myself, I figured he was just an obnoxious but harmless twerp.  Unfortunately, over the past few weeks the boy has become more of a problem, threatening to and then hitting Dee Dee, and continuing to menace her.  On Tuesday, she came home and told us that the boy wasn’t behaving in music class, so the teacher moved the boy, and placed him near Dee Dee.  The boy started growling at Dee Dee, so Dee Dee elbowed him.  After music class, in the library, the boy called Dee Dee a bitch.  Dee Dee told the teacher, and a discussion took place between Dee Dee, the boy, Dee Dee’s teacher, and the music teacher.  In the end, Dee Dee walked away from the conversation with the understanding that the boy’s parents would be called to discuss his behavior.  Whether the call happened or not, I decided that it was time to get involved and at least make Dee Dee’s teacher aware we are aware of the situation.  I wrote an email to Dee Dee’s teacher and copied the school principal on it: 

Dee Dee has been keeping us informed about how A Boy has hit her, been threatening to hit her, growling at her, etc.  She let us know about how she elbowed him for growling at her, how he called her a name later, and the conversation with staff that followed. 

 
Two weeks ago, I asked the substitute gym teacher if it was necessary for Dee Dee to sit next to A Boy, so he has less opportunities to punch her again.  And, I’m wondering if you could speak with other specialists about lessening the chance of A Boy bullying Dee Dee by not placing him near her, as happened in Music Class as a punishment for A Boy not behaving, which resulted in the growling situation mentioned above. 

She’s going to have to learn to deal with bullies.  But, with the growing frequency and severity of Dee Dee’s encounters with A Boy, we believe that not placing Dee Dee in a situation where she will be bullied by A Boy would create much better outcomes for both kids. 

 
Thank you, 

At the end of the day, I received a satisfactory response from the teacher: 

I will speak to specialists about this. They will continue to sit far apart from each other in my class and in others. Thank you for reaching out to me. And thank you also for continuing to coach Dee Dee about this. I will continue to do the same and keep them apart.