Our daughter: extremely well behaved and mannered, very positive behavior, well spoken, handles criticism and direction, very kind to others and doesn't bully anyone.Short version of events:during first week of school a boy in our daughters class punched her in the shoulder leaving a bruise.Beginning of December, boy "sits down hard" on daughters lap when she was sitting on the floor. When we came to the school, daughter told us in front of nurse that the boy "always messes with her" and that on 3 occasions, two of which in class and 1 in the music room, the boy forced his hands on top of her clothes and between her legs. She told her teacher but the boy continued.A month after incident #2, while my daughter was getting a snack from her locker, the boy took her locker door and slammed it shut on her head. The incident was recorded on the schools CCTV system.Our response: When our daughter came to us with the 1st issue, we asked her if she told her teacher and she said she did. We contacted her teacher through a mobile app the school utilizes and we confirmed that the teacher spoke with and disciplined the boy. Each day, we'd ask our daughter how everyone treated her and what happened during her day to understand how the school was responding and how the situation actually felt for our daughter. When the second incident occurred, we didn't know there was inappropriate touching until both my wife & I went to the school to talk with her after she'd been "sat on". When she told us, we requested a meeting with the Principal on-the-spot and thankfully she obliged. Everyone was disturbed by it and we were there to make sure the school put a plan in place to prevent contact as much as possible & to call in the parents of this child and have a serious discussion. When the school nurse called to report the 3rd incident, she made it sound like a complete accident but when our daughter came home we learned that it was on purpose and that it was the same boy. The school hadn't even moved his locker, it was right beside hers. The very next morning, I put my 2 sons on the bus and my daughter, my wife and I went to our city Police Department with a complaint I typed up the night before. I wasn't seeking criminal charges against a 6 year old, but I was requesting that our local county juvenile court order family services (counseling, etc) be completed. Our local PD took record and set up an immediate meeting with the chief of our school districts internal PD. Both PDs took the issue pretty seriously and treated our 6yo very well. After speaking with him, he conferenced in the assistant superintendent who is designated as primary contact for these types of issues in addition to the local school's Principal. I made pretty clear that I wanted the district to adhere to it's own policies or the next step would be an official Title IX complaint to the Department of Education since federally funded schools must provide a learning environment that is free from sexual harassment and abuse.School's Response: While I appreciated the directness and desire of our kids Principal following the 2nd incident, I think it was only half-handled until we responded to the 3rd incident. For example, we were told we'd be followed up with within a short period of time following #2, but #3 happened before we ever heard from the school. Immediately following our response to #3, the school suspended the boy with a multiple-day out of school suspension, they met with the family and described how serious we were that this immediately stop. The family was told if another incident occurs the child will be expelled. Most importantly, I think, the school gathered a number of resources for the family, has put a plan together for the boy and the family has been receptive to it, at least from what we've been told. My wife and I were personally called in for a meeting and apologized to for the response to #2, given all the details of the schools response to #3 and assured that we'd be kept updated if anything was to happen. She did tell us that she's never seen parents "care at the level you both do for your children" -- I'm fairly sure that's not true by any means but I appreciated her gesture.What I saw in my little girl: I saw a person who may be 4 feet tall but is not intimidated by anything. We had conversations with her about how we were responding, why we thought it was important and we asked her if that's what she wanted to do. She talked openly with her Principal and officials with the local PD and learned that her voice matters. She learned she doesn't have to put up with anyone's abuse. via /r/Parenting http://bit.ly/2sLBc3w
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