Son being made to do someone else’s homework

[BellaCat434]

my son is in year 8 and his school sets all homework on sparx (online). I found out this morning a new kid in his class who was expelled from his last school for attacking a teacher has told my son he had to do his homework. I really don’t know what to do. It’s easy to say tell a teacher/ the school & stand up to bullies. But this kid is obviously violent & the risk to my son is very real. Only in year 8 so if he’s labelled a ‘grass’ he has years to go & the consequences could be horrendous.
there is no way the school can tell who is doing the homework, as far as I can tell they can all just give out their log in details and anyone can do it. Has anyone else been through this?

Come on, there is surely only one option and that is to tell the school.

What’s the alternative? That your son does this boy’s homework for him and you watch your son do two lots?

Oh come on, of course you tell the school, and tell your son not to do the homework. You can't run scared from a 13 year old.

Your son ignores it and says "no, I thought you were joking, I won't do that" if he asks again.
If the guy continues your son needs to either play it off as a joke, keep saying nah and tell the teacher if he carries on or threatens him.
You can't teach your son to avoid confrontation for fear of retaliation, there will be bullies and dickheads in all walks of life and people who try it on.
Perhaps put him in a martial arts class or self defense asap for confidence and defense skills. Watch a few YouTube videos with him on bullies, deescalation and how to defend yourself

Tell the school what has happened and that your son and you are genuinely scared of physical repercussions, and that you expect the school to take appropriate action to safeguard him. If they fail, you will have to call the police on this boy.

I bloody HATE how children are expected to navigate this sort of behaviour at school when they should be free to focus on their work and socialising well. Kids who behave like this should not be in mainstream schooling. They need entirely different support and environment.

This is true. Scary as it is, learning to stand up for yourself against bullies is a really important lesson in adolescence that will help in the workplace later on.

Ok, so when I asked if anyone had been through this no one actually has….?

Umm, yes? It's not an uncommon situation for a child to be bullied. The scenario changes, but the principle is the same.

@BellaCat434I know this is tough. We have not been in this situation but my ds was bullied in Year 7. We spoke to the school confidentially and told them of the situation and want to them to deal with it without our son knowing what was going on. All I can say is- they were brilliant! They have experience in how to deal with these situations.

Each situation is different but either way it needs to be dealt with. Year 8 boys are getting comfortable and trust me Year 9 is the trickiest year- hormones added to the mix- so best to nip this in the bud now!

You may not be the first to speak to them about this boy!

I would be tempted to take the homework from your son and complete it badly, very badly.

Inform school what you have done and why.

Speak to the school.

Not sure why you'd do anything else.

Backing down to bullies isn't something you want to teach your child.

There is a very obvious answer to your scenario.