Bullies

The Bismarck Public School system adopted a no tolerance to bullies rule a few years ago. I think for the most part, the bullying problem has lessened in the Northridge school district. I know of a few times in the past couple of years that Gage has mentioned some kids in his class pushing him on the playground. It didn't happen very often thank goodness.

Emma has a bully in her Kindergarten class. It is so sad to me that this is happening as early as their kindergarten year! Emma told me about this boy in her class a couple of days ago, but didn't mention that he was bothering her. One of the other Mom's I know stands around outside of the play area in the morning watching her son to make sure he isn't the victim of bullying. There have been a couple times that I've seen a couple of boys having a bit of an argument/fight along the fence, but didn't really think anything of it (I suppose because my own kids fight all the time?). Anyway, yesterday when the subject came up, I asked Emma if this boy bothers her? She said that he has taken both of his hands and has poked her with his fingers on her cheeks (her face). When I asked her if she told the teacher, or if he got in trouble, she said no. I don't know if he is bullying any of the other girls, or if Emma is being targeted specifically? As far as I've seen, she is the only kid, out of the 100 kindergarteners, with red hair. I don't know if this makes her a target, or even if anybody really notices that? Yesterday when we were picking Scott up at the airport I mentioned to Scott what Emma had said about this bully and him poking her cheeks. Scott replies, "Did you tell him to BACK OFF CLOWN?" Nice! LOL! She replied, "No Dad, we have PROCEDURES!" with a bit of attitude in her voice. She says, "First we have to ignore them, then we tell the teacher." I'm glad she's learning the procedure! I know the kids' name, but I do not yet know what he looks like. I am going to have Emma point him out to me the next time I drop her off at school, because after I dropped Gage off at school and rode my bike back past Emma's school this morning, I saw one little boy have another little boy pinned up against the fence on the playground. I looked to see if the teachers were watching, and of course at that point, no one was. I don't know if they were playing, or if this was some bullying going on, but once I find out what the little bully looks like, I will be keeping my eye on him. Hopefully this problem will be nipped in the bud soon.

We don't have any special plans for the long holiday weekend (that I am aware of anyway). I'm hoping for a nice, quiet weekend. Today after school Gage and Emma have their friends, Ben and Emily Nuss, coming over for a playdate. They moved to Minnesota a little over a year ago. I believe, and are in town for the holiday weekend. They will be excited about that when I tell them after school.

Yesterday I had a comment from someone in Alaska saying they mentioned my blog in theirs because they liked my blog music. When I went to her blog Munchkins And Music, her post said she loves visiting this list of blogs because of the great music, and my blog was in the list with my Bare Naked Ladies song "If I had a million dollars", and "Glory". She is a mom, a music lover, and a music educator. She writes music lessons, musical reviews, and posts fun musical activities and crafts to help moms teach their children to love and appreciate music. I read a few of her posts yesterday and will be adding her to my favorites list as another blog I like to read. She had some great ideas/insight into music with children, and as most of you know, Emma LOVES music!

Have a great weekend!