Today a kid did this on purpose to get him upset. DS told on him. The kid said the ant bit him. DS says he was lying because he saw the ant and it was crawling with its head up.
DS started crying and had to sit out at recess.
Thoughts?
This isn't an issue of empathy or compassion from the school's perspective... this is a straight up bullying issue.
If they can't deal with bullying as an issue the higher level issues don't matter. This isn't a kid/invertebrate issue it is a kid/kid issue... The school needs to be supportive.
I agree but at the same time, I don't think it was so clear in the moment. The teacher didn't see what happened. DS says (while crying hysterically) that the kid called him over, showed him the ant and then killed it. Squisher kid says (in a normal voice) that he found an ant, wanted to show DS, it started biting him and he slapped at it to get it off because it hurt.
We talked about it more today. He said with some things he can be upset and keep it together and figure out how to make it right. With other things, it makes him so upset, he doesn't have control. He said it was like how a possum gets scared and plays dead. He gets sad and mad and starts crying/screaming because sometimes there is just no making it right. He went on to explain that with the ant, it was dead. There is nothing he can do to fix that situation. That little interesting life is over and for no reason.
He said he can think through how to keep something like that from happening again but at that moment he is like the possum but very much not acting dead.
Thanks LAF, he is quite the little character.
