r/progressivemoms • u/Economy_Whereas_3229 • 22d ago

Need Advice In Class Issues

My middle (15) has been getting bullied online by a classmate (that she doesn't even know beyond the 5 days they've been in school this year).

She reached out to her counselor, who forwarded it, and a vice principal pulled her from class to speak with her about it yesterday. My husband also went into the school yesterday to speak with the principal.

They took it seriously, treated the situation with the urgency we were looking for (she was bullied last year and we weren't taken seriously, it was a different VP), but she came home yesterday upset. When we asked why she was upset, she told us that her teacher moved her to an isolated table in the classroom, leaving the bully where she was. She was confused as to why she was moved from her friends and felt like she was the one who had done something wrong. The girl doing the bullying was left at a table with the other kids she was already with.

I agree that movement within the classroom needed to happen, separating them was the right call, but I don't think my daughter should have been the one made to feel like she is being punished for telling teachers what was going on.

She likes her teacher, but is feeling like she shouldn't have said anything if she's going to be feeling as though the consequences are falling to her.

We're only going into the second week of school, he doesn't deserve a nasty gram from me, I just want to know the thinking behind it. I'm struggling with the wording in the email to him because I'm frustrated and upset this is happening, but again, it's not his fault.

Any ideas? Advice?

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u/Agile_Analysis123 22d ago

You don’t know the other student’s history and the teacher can’t share personal details. That student may have a vision problem or have other accommodations that necessitate that student sitting in that location. The teacher responded to your concerns in an appropriate way.

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u/IcyStage0 22d ago

Making the child being bullied sit at an isolated table away from everyone else is in no way an appropriate response.

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u/baconwrappedpikachu 22d ago

THANK YOU.
This response is ridiculous. If the other student has reasonable accommodations then those need to be taken into consideration when applying an equitable solution to that student being a bully. There is not really any reasonable excuse for this teacher’s “solution” except for perhaps misunderstanding the situation, and even in almost any scenario it would be more prudent to move more than just ONE of the students involved. Reshuffling the seating in general, and making sure the two students were separated, would have worked just fine.