How do you deal with annoying people at school?

[Anonymous]

All good points here. His world is only going to get uglier and more competitive going forward. Support his sense of self and his own self confidence. You can’t change other people’s behavior.

[Anonymous]

Just don’t be “friends” with these people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you deal with obnoxious kids who constantly brag about their achievements—especially when they’re clearly doing it just to look good on college applications?
My DC is pretty laid-back, but somehow school peers found some of his activities online and started mocking him with comments like “that’s nothing” or “I’m better than you,” etc.
It’s frustrating, and these behaviors seem especially prevalent in certain groups.

You deal the same as with any other type of bullying. Report it to school.

[Anonymous]

My kid has full permission to punch another kid in the face if needed. We have been hitting the heavy bag in the garage since he was like 7.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you deal with obnoxious kids who constantly brag about their achievements—especially when they’re clearly doing it just to look good on college applications?
My DC is pretty laid-back, but somehow school peers found some of his activities online and started mocking him with comments like “that’s nothing” or “I’m better than you,” etc.
It’s frustrating, and these behaviors seem especially prevalent in certain groups.

This sounds like a rich, private school problem.

[Anonymous]

Maybe he could just choose “kindness”. He could say something like, “I really hope all the time, effort, sacrfice and your parents’ investment really pay off. I would be big mad if after all that, I end up at _____ university.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid has full permission to punch another kid in the face if needed. We have been hitting the heavy bag in the garage since he was like 7.

Well that disciplinary report will be seen by every college your kid applies to. You have to be careful,

[Anonymous]

My daughter had to deal with that last year. One kid talking trash about how she was guaranteed to go to U of M due to her grades and amazing ECs and that our kid had no shot. Fortunately, daughter has thick skin. Our daughter never said anything to this person when she was accepted. She knew this got back to this individual, as this person avoided her for the remainder of the school year. The funny thing U of M was never our daughter's first choice.

[Anonymous]

"I'm better than you" does not seem real unless said in jest.

If it was said earnestly, obviously that's a psycho you shouldn't worry about.

[Anonymous]

The college admissions process is brutal and brings out the worst in kids. Have your kid get off social media, ignore as much of it as possible. Don't discuss admits with anyone outside your family- wait until the beginning of April to make the announcement. All the drama stems from jealousy and insecurity. For many of these families, this is the first time that they haven't been able to purchase exactly what they want for their kids- everything else (private school admissions, club sports, pay-to-play summer programs) has been as simple as writing a check for them. All of a sudden, everything is out of their hands and people get mean and nasty as a result.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid has full permission to punch another kid in the face if needed. We have been hitting the heavy bag in the garage since he was like 7.

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.

-Mike Tyson

[Anonymous]

1. Nougies
2. Wedgies
3. Swirlies
4. Brown swirlies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you deal with obnoxious kids who constantly brag about their achievements—especially when they’re clearly doing it just to look good on college applications?
My DC is pretty laid-back, but somehow school peers found some of his activities online and started mocking him with comments like “that’s nothing” or “I’m better than you,” etc.
It’s frustrating, and these behaviors seem especially prevalent in certain groups.

This sounds like a rich, private school problem.

No, sounds like the opposite: a suburban public with a lot of Asian families,


the kids at top privates don't load up on extracurriculars and honestly there is very little talk about college among the kids at all. a huge number of families don't care that much because it doesn't matter where their kid goes to college: they are stepping into jobs due to connections, etc. I've seen it play out several times. money gives the ability to not care: send that kid to Amherst to study English or Brown to study Peace Studies or Wharton for business or SMU for business. none of it matters to these kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you deal with obnoxious kids who constantly brag about their achievements—especially when they’re clearly doing it just to look good on college applications?
My DC is pretty laid-back, but somehow school peers found some of his activities online and started mocking him with comments like “that’s nothing” or “I’m better than you,” etc.
It’s frustrating, and these behaviors seem especially prevalent in certain groups.

This sounds like a rich, private school problem.

No, sounds like the opposite: a suburban public with a lot of Asian families,


the kids at top privates don't load up on extracurriculars and honestly there is very little talk about college among the kids at all. a huge number of families don't care that much because it doesn't matter where their kid goes to college: they are stepping into jobs due to connections, etc. I've seen it play out several times. money gives the ability to not care: send that kid to Amherst to study English or Brown to study Peace Studies or Wharton for business or SMU for business. none of it matters to these kids.

As a private school parent I have no idea what you are talking about. There definitely is a contingent of kids like that (our school has some super rich kids going to some fairly random colleges that I can never figure out). But that is only a small percentage. Agree that there is less public competition at private schools, but there are lots of very motivated kids at these schools whose parents are spending a lot of money and want to be able to brag at their cocktail parties about where Snowflake is going, and often their connections at certain schools only go so far. But most (but not all) of these kids also have enough class and aren't first gen strivers so they know not to be jerks about it.

Note that I hedged on a lot of what I wrote - I generally belief this but there are lots of exceptions to every rule before everyone gets angry at me and cites the one kid they know who is an exception.

[Anonymous]

Take it from someone who faced this not only from other kids but teachers as well. They thought my kid was nothing, they scoffed at him. I literally supported my kid through all this by saying “ignore them. You just need to go to a 4 year college” for which my kid applied to a rolling admissions school. Got the kid hyped up about it. The narc teacher assumed that was all kid was going to get into and sent their flying monkeys to do even more damage. I remember that day in January when my kid got into Michigan. Right after he went to a club where the teacher showed up and that was the worst day of bullying. I received several texts about the bullying and all Ivssid was — who cares, you are going to Michigan. Then RD decisions were released and my kid was admitted to a few HYPMS. Ha! The only kid from school who was admitted to all 3. What helped — learning to ignore awful people and focusing on your own growth. Trust me, it’s worth it!