Bullying Tip of the Week November 25-29 2002

Online Bully Prevention Tip

Writing a Letter to the School Principal

Many parents are faced with the frustration of dealing with school administrations who fail to take their complaints of school bullying and harassment seriously. In such situations, a paper trail must be started to keep a record of dates and school responses to the problem. This paper trail also will help to:

outline the harassment in a juvenile criminal court if a parent decides to sign a juvenile complaint against the bully.
outline the harassment should the parent decide to make a formal complaint with their respective state department of education.
outline the harassment should the parent decide to make a formal civil rights complaint to the federal office of civil rights.
outline parent attempts to communicate to the school about the problem should the parent decide to take legal action against the district.

First Notification Letter to Principal

Dear Principal,

The purpose of this letter is to inform you of an harassment issue that has been occurring with my son, Joey, Jr. who is a 6th grader on team 6-A. Joey has been subjected to daily harassment by another student on his team.

Each day during lunch, the other student harasses my son by humiliating him at his lunch table by mimicking his stuttering problem. The other students at the table laugh which subsequently creates the more severe harassment issue of public humiliation. Joey has informed a lunch aide and teacher of the harassment, however, this student does not humiliate him when adults are present.

Please have your administrative staff investigate this situation and intervene to insure it stops immediately. Since this student does not engage in this behavior in the presence of adults, your staff may have to interview other students to assist in verifying the harassment.

In closing please note that I am requesting that my son not be interviewed with this other student under ANY circumstances, as this will cause him further embarrassment. I am giving my permission for my son to be interviewed by your staff. I am requesting immediate action and follow-up in response to this letter. Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter.

Tom Letson MA LPC