I turn to the teacher.
Me: “You let him do this? Why didn’t you stop him? Come over hear and let me touch the front of your trousers.”
Teacher: “What? No!”
Me: “Does that seem inappropriate to you? Why don’t you go and pull on the counselor’s bra right now. See how fun it is for her. Or on that boy’s mom’s bra. Or mine. You think just because they’re kids it’s fun?”
Principal: “With all due respect, your daughter still beat another child.”
Me: “No. She defended herself against a sexual attack from another pupil. Look at them. He’s a foot taller than her and twice as heavy. How many times should she have let him touch her? If the person who was supposed to help and protect her in a classroom couldn’t be bothered, what should she have done? He pulled her bra so hard it came undone.”
The boy’s mom is still crying and his dad looks both angry and embarrassed. The teacher won’t make eye contact with me.
I was so angry I gathered my daughter’s things and left. I reported it to the superintendent, and was assured it was strongly dealt with.
The incident seems like something that would never be allowed in schools, and in many, it’s not. There are some schools, though, who unfortunately turn their cheek and avoid the confrontation accompanied by bullies.
What if the teenage girl hadn’t punched the boy in the face? She already knew that the teacher wasn’t going to do anything about it, so what, she just sits there and allows him to touch her? Allows him to believe that he can do whatever he wants to girls, women and other people?
Punching is not the answer, and that’s pretty much the one thing that we all teach our kids not to do to their classmates. But had this girl not defended herself, her story of sexual harassment would be her word against his—and we already saw whose side the school’s administration took.
Kudos to this mama for teaching her baby how to stand up for herself.
No matter what the situation, it’s important that we as parents teach our kids how to stand up for what is right, and to always speak up when something is wrong.
