bullying update

first and foremost, i wanted to say thank you on behalf of myself and max for the tremendous amount of support we have received. he read all of the responses and simply grinned.

i spoke with his teacher on the phone today prior to meeting with her and the vice principal. she had a lengthy talk with max during a study hall period and seemed genuinely concerned for all involved. while i was on my way to my 2:00 meeting with the vice principal, i reached out for two people who weren't near their phone at the time; i took that as *a sign* that i needed to turn to The Big Guy to receive help and grace in my time of need. prayed aloud for 20 minutes. good prayers, too. i was ready.

big breath, went into the meeting and for the most part, it was very conversational and non-threatening. i assured them of everything i felt and mentioned that my husband was just angry enough that if we received no satisfaction from the outcome of my meeting and the vp's subsequent meetings with the child and his parents, we had no problem letting the police and newspapers know of not only the intimidation and abuse, but the religious bias that was shown to my son and describe just how he had been harassed, both mentally and physically, while in a disabled state (wheelchair) while recovering from surgery. hat tip to gen x revert for the wicked good link to the anti-bully law that was passed in the state of new jersey in 2002. it provided me good back-up and fortified my arguments.

many mea culpas all the way around. however, it is unfortunate that max didn't alert his teacher a few weeks ago of the seriousness of what was happening to him: to her, it was *playing around* (that which she witnessed) because if he had and it had continued, they'd have had information on record and would now be able to take discliplinary action.

however, now that they do know, if this kid even so much as looks at max sideways, the vice principal wants to know and assured me he would be expelled from school.

i'll take that.

prior to my leaving i shook his hand and said, "you'll be calling me or sending me an e-mail as to the specifics of the meeting with *C* and his parents, correct?"

"that would be correct, mrs. d."

"okay then. i am thinking i'll hold off on the telephone calls to the police department and press of atlantic city until i see how the conversations went all the way around." i think i may have smirked, just a little.

for now, this is good enough for max, too. he's in a much better state of mind this evening than he was last.

thanks be to God.