Do I have a right to know? (bullying/punishments)

[sugerbones]

At dinner time today I recieved a phonecall from the school, my 6 year old had been involved in an "accident" and his head had been split open and nose bust - teacher thought he might need stitches and they asked me to get there asap.

When I got there I was told that another boy had delibrately thrown a big toy at his face, there was blood everywhere, all over his face, on his clothes, the floor etc...it was so bad that another girl in the class fainted because of all the blood!

Anyway after the trip to A&E to glue his head back together and check for concusion I asked him what had happened to the other boy - he just said he had been sent to the head's office .

My son has complained about this boy before - do I have a right to know what his punishment was? should I bother asking what was done or will they not tell me? Should I just assume that he's been punished and leave it?

[LilyLoo]

Sounds traumatic. Hope he's ok. Unfortunately think schools close ranks a bit on this topic. Can't imagine that they will discuss another child with you confidentiality and all that. However if you think there are issues between your son and this other boy i definately think you should go into school and discuss it. Although from experience with my DS getting sent to the headteacher is serious punishment in itself.

[bubblylion]

Hi Sugarbones, I definately think you have the right to ask if this boy has been punished, the teacher may not tell you exactly what the punishment was, but it will give you peace of mind to know the issue has been addressed. I would also mention to the teacher, that your son has been bothered by this child before!!

[sugerbones]

I saw the head this morning who assured me that a full investigation was launched yesterday, the boys mum was called and asked to leave work to go and speak with the school...the head told her that if she were me she would be livid, she said the boys mum was very upset about it and has agreed to accept help and support at school and at home.

The head also told me that she had spoken to 4 different children who witnessed what happened yesterday and all 4 of them seperately said that my son and his little group of friends had gone over to the boy (who was playing on the toy) and repeatedly pushed him off it. Apparantly this isnt rare, my son and his friends are known to go around the playground winding up older children and being silly together. She did say that this was no excuse for the other kid to react the way he did but I agreed that my son's behaviour does need to be looked at too.

I've kept him off school today anyway but I suppose I'll just have to keen an eye on the situation.

[MeMyselfI]

It sounds as if the school have been very fair and pretty efficient in their treatment of the matter and I hope you feel satisfied with the way they have dealt with it.

It does sound as if your son was partly to blame, and it's good that you can accept that his behaviour needs addressing too. It sounds as if the other mum is taking it seriously as well.

I hope he feels better soon and that both boys can work to overcome whatever problem they have with each other. They are both still very young and hopefully as they get older they will come to learn to control their feelings in more appropriate ways.

[sunnysideup]

I agree suger, it sounds like this was dealt with really well actually.

And I think you have the PERFECT chance to talk to your ds about his behaviour at school; no, he shouldn't have been injured like this but it is a life lesson to learn that if you go round winding people up, you may get hurt!!!! There's no better way to learn than through experience......poor boy bet he feels a bit sorry for himself today.....