PK4 name calling - is this bullying?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tell the other kids’ parents too!!! I would want to have a talk with my kid if they were being mean to a classmate!

IME, this will usually backfire. Parents don't actually want to hear that their kid is being mean, and they will make excuses, blame your child, and just generally be jerks about it. I wouldn't say anything to the other parents.

Unless you know the other parents somewhat well. I agree personally I'd like to know. Another option is, the teacher can mention is to the other parents. You can just ask them when you talk to them if they will - if not, don't push it.

Definitely preferable to have the teacher tell the other parent instead of you. Better would be if the teacher (guide) could just fix it herself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think that parents of young children need to make a distinction in their mind between conflicts that children have and "bullying" which is a pattern of conflict between children. I hear this all the time, and I think it really minimizes what actual bullying is. Not everyone is going to be nice all the time, and teaching children to manage social conflict is important. When a child is being bullied, there is almost always a power differential at play - an unpopular child being targeted by a group of more popular children repeatedly for harassment.

I think that what is happening to your child at school is awful though and agree with everyone else that you should speak to the guide about it.

OP here. This is the reason I was debating whether I bring it up with the guide immediately or if I try to let her stand up for herself/work it out first. You stated it much better than I did! I was reading about the difference between conflict and bullying, and I know that this could possibly be a part of normal development. That said, I checked the class list and the kids that are doing the name calling are in the oldest age group in the class. I was able to get additional information out of DD last night, and they also seem to be intentionally doing it out of earshot of the teacher, indicating that they know it is wrong. Based on these factors and the feedback here, I did send an email to the guides last night and am talking with them about it later today.

For the people suggesting I tell the other parents, I am going to follow the guide's lead on that. I don't feel I know the parents of those particular children well enough, and I think the guides would be better suited to deal with that aspect. I also would personally want to know if DD was behaving this way so I could work to correct the behavior, but I know a lot of parents won't necessarily feel that way about being told of this kind of behavior from their child.

[Anonymous]

I will let the teachers know. Good luck on your meet.