It’s summer time and my family loves to be outside most of the time. We like to go to the park a lot of the time, so our one and only kid can spend time playing with other kids as well. It is the only sole moments for him to spend time with us as well as enjoying the slide and climbing at the playground. Unfortunately, there are some circumstances where playground bullies are present. My son is a good boy, and doesn't really fight back. I’m his mother and I know him so well. I spend every hour of my time with him and I know my son wasn’t born to be a bully and to be bullied. I really hate it when my son gets bullied. For some reason, the mother instinct in me rises and wants to protect and fight for him. I want to say something to my son, like "why not fight back", but, maybe he is just a good boy. Sometimes, it's just so overwhelming.
I wanted to share two events that took place at one of the playgrounds we like to go to. First, there was a young boy, maybe 3 or 4 years old. When we got to the playground, we sat by the corner where the stairs are, and soon this boy came over with his hands on his waist, asking Joshua something, but in a way that was like threatening him or something, then, he said if Joshua wants to fight? I’m like, what is this kid doing, and where does he get the nerve to do this with us parents right in front of him? He just pretends he didn’t see us or ignored us altogether. Then his dad came over to stop him and his mom just stared at us. They never even apologized.
A couple days later, at the same park, there’s a girl 3 years old who approached Joshua when Joshua was enjoying the slide alone. At first she was nice and then all of a sudden, she started pushing him and tries to hug or tug on him. It was unusual that some kids were just so over aggressive. Then, my son went to where we sit at and look stress and annoyed. So, I asked what was wrong, and this girl went after him and said they were going to go play. In front of us, she’s dragging my son and then when we were out of sight she pushes him when he tried to get away. I was a bit mad about it, so when my son came over and she was behind him, I strongly said that no pushing and no hugging because my son doesn’t like it at all. She wasn’t listening to me I guess because she was still doing it until my son decided to just leave. So, we leave the park and went home. What mischievous behavior! What's worse, all the while this was happening, the girl's mother was sitting off to the side reading a book, and not really paying any mind, as if she thought this behavior was okay or even normal! She did look up a couple times and say, "No, don't do that." but that was it. She never got up, she never gave a consequence when the girl repeated the behavior - nothing. Ridiculous! I'm sorry, but this sort of hands-off approach to parenting a 3 year old bully may be the root of the problem in the first place!
It made me angry seeing my son being bullied and to think of it as one of the worst thing that I need to deal with. I know that many children are bullied and this is mostly happening in school or playground where there are lots of children gathered around. It hurts me so much to see my son not know what to do while being bullied by other children. But of course, we can’t do anything about it but to protect our son from these senseless kids. I don’t care what people might think about me but I have a protective instinct in me and I will do my very best to stop this bullying around my kid or else everyone should suffer the consequences.
Read more...
