Hello, anyone who's up!
Last night a group of four or five young people were passing by our door and one of them shouted the word ‘cripple’ through our letterbox. They are in my son's year at school (2nd year at High School in Scotland). He has spina bifida (mild, but walks with a visible limp). My son was upstairs in his room and could see the group, but didn’t hear what was shouted. He did identify a couple of the boys.
I've just put together an email for my son's pastoral teacher. My instinct is not to make a massive thing about it. He's been struggling with being back at school after lockdown and I don't want to add to his issues. He can be a bit of a loner - has a few nice friends but very much prefers his own company. He has mild Asperger's too. We didn’t tell him what was said, just put it down to people playing chap-door-run or being a bit silly.
It’s very possible that he finds this kind of language less distressing than we do as his parents, though obviously it's very much not ok. I've asked to have the incident noted and for the school to keep an eye on things. And I've given them the names of the boys my son identified. (Can they even do anything about something that happens out of school?).
Basically, though my blood is boiling at the thought of them getting away with it, I feel that making a fuss might not be what's best right now. What would you do?