Civics and Urban Life

What To Do If A Classmate Spits in your Child’s Face?

5 Comments
Last week a parent at Park Slope Parents faced a vexing problem. There is nothing worse than hearing that  your child was hurt at school. In this case, the mom wsa in the classroom but was out of sight of the incident. I remember when the school called to say that someone had thrown a piece of ice at OSFO in the playground. "She may need stitches," the nurse said.

This story is equally upsetting. Maybe more for the humiliation of being spit at. The mother in this story was once spit at by a boy in her class so there is a lot of identification with her little girl. Who can blame her. Being spit out is humilating…

Today was not a good day for my five-year-old.

I went to  serve lunch and when my daughter saw me she got excited and was
exclaiming,  "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!" which is the usual excitement shown by
the kids when  their parents show up in the lunchroom. With that, the classmate
spit in my  daughter's face. Just turned around and spit.

The classmate has a grapevine  rep for rough behavior, kicking, hitting, na-na-na-na-na type
stuff, but  this crosses the line. I was in the vicinity, although didn't see
it happen…the commotion broke out and three of the girls, mine included, were 
taken to the principal's office where she carefully unravelled the layers of 
the crying kids…and the girl confessed to doing it, for no reason, just 
because.

She was given a warning–apparently there is only one. My kid was 
cleared but humiliated. I really felt it for her. Someone spit in my face 
once (a boy) and it was the most vulgar experience I can remember. Anyway,  when
I told my husband, he was understandably upset and wants to contact the 
principal to make sure the warning is enforced, or maybe just to voice his 
total anger and disgust. I'm thinking we should put it behind us, but maybe  not?

Any opinions on whether we should pursue it further so today's aggressive behavior is not  forgotten?

5 thoughts on “What To Do If A Classmate Spits in your Child’s Face?”

  1. Just get you daughter go round to that person’s house and beat the shit out of him, he’ll never learn his lesson with barely a puunishment, i say whoop his ass!

  2. I would suggest that you teach your kid one important rule, “Don’t start fights, but make sure that you end them, and well before the ‘authorities’ show up.”
    That way if it ever happens again, you can be sure it won’t. Generally I have noticed that school authorities (this is how it is all over isn’t it? With adult authorities as well.) defend the bullies and enable their attacks. The only real solution is to give your daughter the tools so that if she’s attacked again she makes sure whoever attacked her remembers the pain that follows.

  3. Apparently, there is a “pecking order” of punishments to fit the crime as defined by the Board of Education. Humilitating – yes. Bodily injury – no. Have the “spitter’s” parents/guardians been brought into the equation? If not, they should have been!

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