Say something tomorrow or leave till next school year? Bullying

[solidgoldbrass]

Tomorrow is the last day of term for DS (who's 7). Earlier this evening he got a bit worked up about not wanting to go to after-school club, I told him not to be daft and then he got very upset.
It turns out that some of the other kids both at after-school and in the playground generally have been taunting him and calling him 'gay'. I have reassured him that they are the ones in the wrong, explained what being gay is and that it's no big deal; only silly people think there's something wrong with it, and that it doesn't matter whether he is or he isn't. So DS is fine now.

However, given that they are breaking up for the summer, is there any point in mentioning it to his teachers? There can't be much they can do on the last day of term.

They might not be able to do much tomorrow but I think you should mention it. Better than dwell on it all summer.

Then chase them up in September.

I agree that there is little the school will do now. Have a great summer and closely monitor the situation on return.

I think you should mention it to the school too.

No, mention it tomorrow. Whether there'll be time to deal with it tomorrow or not doesn't matter; he'll see you taking it seriously and that'll be really important to him.

If you mention it in the morning, they should be able to talk to the children concrened during the day, which might make your ds happier over the summer

say something tomorrow.

OK, will have a quiet word with his teacher. I've already had a little talk with DS about bullying being wrong but I've also gently told him that (as we have previously discussed) he needs to stop hugging and kissing everyone all the time. Not with any nonsense about being gay or not, but just because not everyone likes hugs and kisses, and sometimes people are nasty to you because you are being a bit annoying...

Mention it. Says the person who has handed in a letter of complaint to the board of Governors at my DS's primary this morning...

Some things just shouldn't be left.

say something in the mornong as he was upset and probably worried it may happen tomorrow, they can at leat then be aware and intervien if needed.

I found once when dd had a problem in play ground the class teacher was unaware and did not really do much as they where all fine in class as she is not in the play ground. But I aseked in gthe office if they could mention to playground supervisor if they could just keep an eye out for problem. DD had reported back that issue had arisen and all children where imediatly sent to head for a chatt to see what had been going on was all resolved and niped in the bud that very day. so defiantly worth mentioning for his peace of mind tomorrow.

I had a quiet word with his class teacher because it seems to have been happening both in the playground and at the after-school club (which is paid for and takes place in the school, with other kids from the same school but different classes). She was very understanding and said they would deal with it, I'm also going to ring the after-school club manager and tell her that he;s not coming today and mention it to her as well.
And then he will have the whole summer not to worry about it, and if there's any further trouble in the autumn term, we'll deal with it then.

I think its definitely worth mentioning it now - I've had similar issues with my DS (also 7) being picked on and physically assaulted, which he only told me about this week. I felt bad for all the hassle its caused this week when they all thought they were on the home stretch, but I didn't want DS stewing over it all summer and dreading the start of next term, so wanted to get it sorted before the end of term.

Teachers were all very helpful (although not particularly impressed that I had also contacted the mums of 2 of the boys involved directly) and they have talked to all the children about boundaries and behaviour, as well as reinforcing the message that the children need to report anything that happens so there is a record of it, that's not 'snitching'.

well done solid, you done the best thing, lets hope it is just a flash in the pan and they dont carry it on next term, as is often the case. The probably just learned what the word means and need to be told its out of line to abuse other kids with it.