"I am going to put naked pictures of you on the internet"

[2010aQuintessentialOdyssey]

Is this bullying or is it jesting?

My son is 7. He was very concerned about this. A classmate whom he does not get along with had made this threat to him. He had said that he would call his mum (me) to get naked pics and post them.
I made a bit of a joke of it all saying this was a very silly idea and did he really think I would give his classmates naked pics of him? Come to think of it, the only naked pic where he wasnt a baby, he was covered in chicken pox. I pretended to put the telephone to my ear and said "Hi, this is Peter in Pauls class, could you please give me some naked pictures of your son, I want to post them on the internet" My son was rolling on the floor laughing at this.

Is this the best approach? Or should I take it more seriously?

We do have some bullying issues we are trying to deal with at the same time.

it sounds lik it might me more symptomatic of emotional terrorism associated with long term bullying.

whilst i think you have played it exactly right with your son i would also let the school know and as part of a longer term strategy, keep a diary of all the incidents that have come to your attention, who you reported them to - on what date and what action was taken.

The comment was from one of his main bullies.

It is a very good idea about the diary custy, as I have spoken to the school on so many occasions. They are trying very hard to be a zero tolerance school - at lest on paper, but they seem totally unable to deal with actual bullying. Both his year teachers are wishy washy arty farty young teachers, no children themselves, with no authoritiy, but a "there there, please be a good doggy" attitude. They are pleading with the children to be nice rather than showing some initiative in handling situations.

I think you handled it very well. I am astonished at the threat. If you aren't getting anyjoy with his year teachers, I'd go further and further up the chain of commande. Head of year, head of school etc. and on your trip along this chain, ask to see their bullying policy.

i think if you consider this being a longer term approach to an ineffective school then it might work. if nothing else you can threaten them with publicity - i think this particular threat for instance a local newspaper would run with.