DS has gone through so much with different kids at school and their crappy behaviour for so long now. It started in year 5 and really wore him down by year 7. Different rounds of kids, different rounds of shit behaviour.
After a really difficult time that knocked his confidence, DS started to pick himself back up again in year 8.
Now in year 9, he's started to make a group of new mates who he's been getting on well with. It's been quite hard breaking into an established friendship group who've all been friends for years, but he's persevered and has been happy to be accepted into this group over the past couple of months and he's been feeling really positive about it and has been hanging out at school with them.
Then today, walking out of school, they all started taking the piss out of my DH. DS's dad. Imagine DH's name is Steven. DS is walking out of school with the group, having hung around with them at lunchtime and all was good, and suddenly 1 of them randomly, and without any context, suddenly says to DS "Cheesy Steven!" The group all burst out laughing and suddenly six 13/14 year old boys are all loudly chanting "Cheesy Steven! Cheesy Steven!" and laughing at DS. Then 1 of them says "Steven's head is so shiny it's like a mirror!" met with rounds of laughter and then they all walk off in their direction home whilst DS splinters off in his opposite direction.
He walked in from school looking really deflated. Inititially he wasn't going to tell me about it, but eventually did after I said I could tell something was bothering him. Said he felt really happy to have made these new mates at school who've been nice to him so far and now they've all been mean today about his dad. 1st time anything like this has happened since he's been hanging out with them since September.
DS is really close to DH and he didn't like them taking the piss out of him today.
I've had to teach DS a lot about boundaries re bad behaviour from other kids over the past 3 years, and have had to put in a lot of support on an emotional level as a lot of behaviour he was subjected to from other kids resulted in him developing clinical anxiety.
I think I need a bit of guidance here, as in, is this normal teenage boy bantering stuff do you think, or is this the start of yet another round of nasty behaviour?
I know that's what DS is wondering tonight, and I haven't told him but I'm wondering the same.
He said he thought he'd made friends with them and now they've been out of order towards him.
I find it so draining. Why can't kids just be nice. DS struggles to understand because shit behaviour because he hasn't got an unkind bone in his body and he is never mean to anyone. He really understands that stuff can hurt people's feelings so never does it, even if someone has irritated him or if he doesn't like someone, he doesn't behave badly towards anyone.
I'm left thinking here we go again. But after the years of problems with other kids and bullying type behaviour towards DS that we've gone through, I don't know if I'm being over sensitive this evening.