There was no easy decision in this situation but my girls’ happiness and wellbeing was and always will be my priority.
The girls said goodbye to their old school yesterday.
They started their new school today and came back with stories and smiles.
Posted on October 12, 2012, in Uncategorized and tagged Bullying, Children, Doodlemum, Drawing, Family, Illustration, Life, school, Sketchbook. Bookmark the permalink. 43 Comments.
Wow that cat is doing an excellent job at knocking off all your bathroom supplies. You gotta love ca
It’s my kids that made me quit using makeup but I’m sure a cat’s just as bad at getting into everyth
I love your art. You have caused me to feel the moment with you.
Hahahahaha I know that one!
Our house has an open door policy for the bathroom cause either the dog or cat scratches the door if
Hahahaha, you've lost that basket :D
Love this!..
Adorable, as usual. <3
Doodlemum 
I think you have made the right choice love, and I hope they are both very happy in this new environment now and it offers you all some much needed peace of mind. God bless. xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Wishing you all lots of luck and happy times.
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I’m so glad your children are happy – it’s a tough decision to move school but sometimes it’s the only option. My heart goes out to you. Good luck xx
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Wishing them the best of luck and lots of happiness!!
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Wishing them the best of luck and lots and lots of happiness!!
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A fresh new start and happy days for your lovely girls. Have a great weekend!
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good for you all
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Awwww 🙂 I hope they will be very happy and make lots of lovely new friends! X
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You are courageous and bold to make a change for the family! Your kids must be so happy to have you as their mom!
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Well done mum/dad and good luck and happier times in your new school girls!
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May your new school experience bring growth and happiness to your girls. They are fortunate to have such sensitive and pro-active parents.
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A very very difficult decision. My best wishes with them.
Curious though, as to what prompted you that changing schools was the best possible solution. Bullies after all, may be found anywhere. I don’t intend negativism, but would like to know the thought process.
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I’m afraid it was a bad class, a lot of her friends had moved away and she was left in a class with very few girls, the ones that were left were not what I would call friends. Most days she would come home telling me how her class was constantly being shouted at and punished for being naughty.
She was shoved on a daily basis and there was this attitude that my daughter could be treated this way as it was funny to do so. She has been labelled as fat, ugly,and hanging. I felt that even if the teachers were to try and tackle this it would only alienate Millie further. Over the summer we saw her confidence soar and within 2 days of being back at school that all disappeared. The final straw was when she told me how unimportant she was because otherwise they wouldn’t treat her this way. She has also been physically attacked twice in the last two weeks.
You can’t remove a group of children from school so our only option was to get her out of there and her sister too (as there was no way I was going to split the family up).
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Thanks for sharing this. Can’t have been easy. You did a good thing. *Hugs*
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She will always remember that you protected her like this. It will make her stronger. I was beaten up when I was at school and my parents sorted it out somehow and it never happened again and I never forgot that. I’m 38 now and we were literally only talking about this last week. I felt empowered knowing they were prepared to fight for me and stand up for me. I hope your girls really enjoy their new school x
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You felt the bullying was almost a culture at the school and the girls were established as victims? Bold move, often they are the best. Good for you. If it were me I would teach the girls some assertiveness and zero tolerance for any of those little let’s see how they react tester moves.. In my sons case it’s shoving for girls it might be verbal. 🙂
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I’m afraid it was both both for Millie 😦 You have my sympathies. xxx
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Prayers for a good new school. I hope the girls will be happy there and make lots of lovely friends.
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Best wishes for their future.
M
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That’s good news. Wishing them a happy life in their new school.
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Bravo Angie and shame on the school for allowing the bullying to escalate to such a point that you have had to move your daughters elsewhere. Happy days ahead for you all 🙂
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A hard and brave decision. It’s not always the solution but we had to do the same thing. Happy girls in today’s picture. Prayers will continue for you all.
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Well done to you and your husband for taking such a difficult step to improve your daughter’s futures. It’s a shocking indictment of the old school though. Once again with
bullying the bullied are forced out with the bullies remaining to inevitably pick their next victim! will you pursue a complaint now your kids are out? X
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This gave me goose bumps reading it. You sound like a good mama, good on you both. Bring on the happy school memories x
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Well done you! Your kids are lucky that they have sensible caring parents. That school sounds awful! Best wishes for the future xx
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I really hope that your family, especially Millie, has better experiences with the new school 🙂 It can’t have been an easy decision, but from what I have read, it deffinitly seems like the right one 🙂
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Well Done – Good decision. Hope all goes well.
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Huge decision – very well done – it clearly seems like the right one. Shame on the school for allowing such nastiness to happen. All the best for the new start. Wishing you all much deserved happiness.
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I would do the same thing. And perhaps girls could be told ANYONE can do them harm and ANY motive justify bullying or violence over them. They are probably now more confident about them, because you took her defense so clearly. New friends will help them deal with a fresh new start 🙂 Best wishes!!
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I’m so happy you managed to change schools rapidly & hope all the family will benefit from this change. the happiness & wellbeing of our children is the most important thing. Congratulations.
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I can only applaud you making the hardest of decisions to look out for the well being of your kids. I hope they blossom in their new school.
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Well done, strong lady! Hope it works out well for both the girls. For so much longer than we realise, we are our children’s only voice.
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Hurray for Millie getting out of there, well done all of you for making this decision! Hope this new school will bring lots of happiness for you all!
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Way to go!! Great decision on your part, mom & dad.
XOXOXO
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I have so much admiration for you. I’ve been through this myself and with my daughter. I hope Millie grows a little every new day, and that the clouds are left further behind as the weeks pass. Lots of love and luck to you and your sweet family. x
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You sre a wonderful mom for paying attention and acting on it! All the best wishes for a marvelous transition to the new school!!
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That is so good to hear! I hope a new school will bring many happy memories. 🙂
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good for you. i hope the girls get on better and that they are welcomed and looked after in their new school
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Mum-power (like girl-power) never fails!
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Hooray! When I was a child, I hid my bullying from my mother until one day, when I was eleven, I broke down sobbing in the car and told her I could never, ever, ever go back there. She had no idea. At the time, I didn’t realize how awful it must have been for her to see me like that, but thank goodness she did what she did:
Despite her religious convictions, she transfered me from the private Catholic school where I was mercilessly bullied to a public school (I’m in the US). It made all the difference. I had friends. I regained confidence. And all it took was a new group of people, a new environment, a chance to regain myself.
I’ve been happy (and not bullied) ever since! (I’m now in my thirties, content and successful, and that bullying is a memory– but a faint one, and one that helps me remember to be kind to others in all things.)
Anyway, I’ve never posted here, but I just wanted to say, good on you for moving schools. That one little move changed the direction my childhood was going to a much better one.
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Thank you so much Laura for your kind words and thank you for sharing your story with us. It is so lovely to hear your story is a happy one too. xxxx
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My daughter was not at all happy at senior school but fortunately I worked at the same school and was able to help sort out a particular issue. There were still girls there who got a kick out of making hurtful and stupid comments. I experienced some of it myself as an adult “Nice shoes miss…. NOT!” and because I am tall they would murmur “Ogre” every time they passed me in the corridor. It made me realise how it must make a less confident person or a child feel – nervous, worried and insecure I did not make an issue out of it because actually they were very very sad girls who I really pitied, they had low self-esteem and came from quite deprived backgrounds. I believe that they think the name-calling and shoving makes them feel important. They have no empathy. Their form teacher spent a lot of time with them pointing out how wrong it was and how it made others feel, but due to their home background I dont think they understood. Still my daughter was able to avoid them through her time at the school and went on to achieve good exam results and go to university. The hardest thing as an adult when you are told about the incideous bullying is not to just think ‘its just words’ because it means so much more to a child. You definitely did the right thing, you should never ignore your child’s concerns and to be honest there is only so much the school can do and in your case it is obvious there was not a lot they could or would do. Only you know your own child and if they are unhappy it hurts. I also moved my son when he was 8 as the teaching methods used were quite progressive and did not suit him and he was not progressing. He managed to catch up at the new school and made some lovely friends he still sees today (age 30) My philosophy is that you only get one chance…make the most of it.
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Thank you so much for your kind words Ann. I did worry I was making a rash decision but a week on, I can see how happier and animated she is becoming.
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