It’s a tricky conundrum for parents: to what extent do you police or call out bad behavior in other kids? What if the other kids are hurting your kids? Should you involve the other kid’s parents?
One such dilemma recently popped up on Reddit. A mom was wondering if she was in the right when she publicly called out another parent whose kid was bullying her child.
RELATED STORIES
The mom has an eight-year-old.
Her daughter, who we’ll call B, has been having a rough time at school. Another girl, H, has been really mean to B. The teacher has done their best to remedy the situation but it doesn’t seem to be working.
Left with no other clear options, the teacher arranged for a meeting with both girls’ parents. Unfortunately, H’s parents didn’t want to show up.
Things came to a head in a group chat.
B’s mom asked H’s mom in this chat if she could talk to H or even arrange a meeting to fix things up.
“Literally, the only answer I got from her was something along the lines of ‘This is normal kid behavior and you’ll see it when you have more parenting experience,'” wrote B’s mom. When she persisted, H’s mom accused her of harrassment.
Things escalated.
B’s mom saw no real options, so she aired her grievances, without naming names, in the group chat for all to see. Other parents were concerned and offered their help.
Amazingly, even H’s mom said ‘bullying is never okay’ and insisted they’d already talked about it.
B’s mom thought this was a little rich, and replied, “You gotta be kidding me,” which made it obvious to all who was being bullied by whom.
Did she cross the line?
H’s mom no doubt felt called out. B’s mom maaaybe could have kept her grievances private. But on this subreddit, the whole point is to lay out an issue to see what others think.
The overwhelming response? B’s mom was absolutely not the jerk in this situation.
One comment: “This is a perfect illustration of generational behavioral issues.”
Another commenter noted that, as a teacher who was bullied as a kid, the girls’ teacher could have done more to remedy the situation.
“I spent a small fortune on therapy to deal with my experiences and I didn’t have a parent who was a boss like you and confronted my abusers because, let’s be real, bullying is abuse.”
Virtually no one thought B’s mom was out of line.
“She had multiple chances to address the issue and correct her child. What you did was a kindness,” read one comment.
This was a common theme: B’s mom approached the situation in good faith, tried multiple private mediation avenues, and only went public when there weren’t any other options left.
The verdict is in.
Reddit agrees that B’s mom was in the right in this situation. But we want to know what you, the Diply reader, thinks. Check out the thread and let us know what you think. How have you confronted the situation when your kids get bullied?
