When my son was in the fifth grade he started having problems with a kid. When he first told me about it, I thought that it was just normal stuff until it started getting worse.

This kid started by just making comments about my son which I just told him to ignore. Then after awhile the problems starting progressing. My son couldn't walk down the hall in school or go to the cafeteria without being pushed and shoved. Recess was a nightmare for my son because the kid started becoming more physical.

One day in school, the kid threw a book at him and hit him in the head. When my son told me this, I asked him if he went to his teacher. He said that he had and that the teacher was going to take care of it. I was getting really aggravated and decided to go and talk to his teacher myself and explain that this was getting out of hand. When I talked to the teacher she said she was aware of the problem and would deal with it.

I don't condone violence, however that night I talked to my son about defending himself if this kid attacked him again. My son had been dealing with this kids about a month now and no matter what I tried to advise him, nothing seemed to be working.

The next day, at recess the kid walked up to my son and hit him in the face so hard that he knocked his glasses off. My son refused to defend himself because when the kid did this, he brought a few of his buddies with him and my son was outnumbered.

My son again went to a teacher who said she didn't see the incident but took the rest of the kids' recess away for the rest of the day. When I picked my son up from school and he told me what had happened, I parked the car and went straight to the office madder than a hornet. I demanded to speak to the principal and for my great luck he wasn't there. I talked to a Coach who was left in charge and rather angrily told him what was going on.

Again, I was told the problem would be taken care of. Again, I discussed with my son about defending himself. The next morning, I took my son to school and went to the principal. I angrily told him all that was going on. I told him that my son had permission to defend himself if this kid puts his hands on my son again. The principal gave me a rather lengthy lecture about fighting and that my son would be suspended if he fought back. Then he told me that he knew the kid in question very well and this kid had a lot of behavioral probelms and that I needed to be understanding. He said that he would talk to this kid in the morning about what was going on.

Matter settled right ?

No ! That afternoon when I picked my son up from school, my son informed me that he had been cornered by this kid in the bathroom and was threatened again and then also threatened at recess. When he told the teacher at recess, she didn't do anything and when my son requested to go to the office to call me, her comment to him was " What are you going to do, go cry to your mommy ?" She refused to let him go to the principal and refused to allow him to call me.

My son begged me to not let him go to school anymore. He was tired of having to watch his back and felt like no one was supporting him in the school.

I went back into the office. I am not one to yell but there wasn't a person in that office who didn't hear me. I yelled at my son's teacher and I yelled at the principal and the coach. All the people who had been promising me that their school was safe. All those who kept telling me that there was a no bullying policy and that my son will be taken care of. People who kept telling me that there were things being done but they couldn't tell me because of privacy rights.

After threatening to call the police and leaving messages with the school board, things finally started working in my sons favor. The principal and teachers were seen for the next several months escorting this bully away from my son. The teachers kept this kid away from my son by making sure their paths didn't cross at recess and in the halls. There were meetings with this kid's parents and actions taken that I still don't even know about.

There comes a point when parents have to step in and be forceful and speak up. They have to demand that things be taken care of and not let up until actions are made.

We have to be the voice of our children when no one will listen to them. We have to protect our children when it seems no one else will. We can't expect anyone to care for our children in a way that is better than we can.

In todays society, when kids carry guns and pocket knives to school, our children aren't as safe as schools like to make it seem. Their bully policies are lacking. In my son's school, there has to be three or more documented incidences before the bully policy takes affect. I don't believe there should be that many chances.