Wow. I cannot believe the response this poem had. The blog got over 500 hits in 24 hours.
And I wanted to thank you for reading, for all the support, comments and retweets.
I cannot believe that something which took me such little time to write, could make such a big impact.
I'm glad it has. For we need to raise awareness of bullying issues in young children. We need to recognise the signs and symptoms in little people when all is not well.
The thing is, I never imagined this was happening to my five-year-old. She never spoke up. Esme is really very eloquent, and the fact that she was confused, meant she was unable to voice it. That's a first for my chatty girl.
Probably emphasised by the fact that she is not streetwise, and is particularly trusting of everyone.
I suppose this whole episode could be considered her first lesson in LIFE AS IT IS.
How sad to go through it so early.
For me, it is a case of relief. Utter relief. I didn't have a clue what was going on with her. I just saw a child getting smaller and smaller by the week. (This has been going on for quite some time).
I am relived the headmistress found her upset and that Esme was able to express her feelings that morning.
I am relieved the three boys have left her alone after stern words from the head.
Most of all, I am relieved that over the last three weeks, since the head spoke to my little one, that the Esme we all adore, has slowly been able to return to the fore.
She is finally back to herself this week, which is what gave me the strength to write about it yesterday. It's great to have my lovely lively slightly loony girl back again!
I will say this… I am gutted I never recognised it myself. That I was unable to help her voice it earlier.
So, if you have a little one that suddenly becomes your shadow, and does not want to go to school anymore, it will be well worth having a quiet chat with them, to try and find out why. And if you can't get to the bottom of it, take it to the school and get help.
After all, it's only when they come out the other side, you realise how dark it was for them while they were in there.
5 comments:
Didn't see your poem till I saw your tweet about this post. Poor you, and Esme. How horrendous. Don't beat yourself up, Emma. You're not a child psychologist, but a parent. Kids don't communicate in the way adults do, esp when hurting, and they don't come with a manual! BTW i've heard that a good way to find out what's going on in a child's world, if your worried, is to ask them to draw a picture of their time at school or how they feel. PS Have you put your poem on Prose for Thought? Sx
Oh dear, my heart aches for your little girl! I'm glad though that it's over now. My 3-year-old is off play school, she absolutely refuses to go. I wondered for awhile whether something happened. But I don't really think so. We are trying again, but slowly and I asked the play school staff if I could stay with her, just until she's comfortable again and they were fine with it. Here's hoping that things go well for us too. #PoCoLo.
I just read your poem, and do feel sorry that your little girl had to face what she did. I'm glad that swift action was taken against the bullies. #PoCoLo
What an awful thing to happen so young. I haven't read the poem - going to read it now. So glad she is getting back to herself again.
My daughter had a couple of bits of bullying at an early age too - one girl in the year above her actually bullied my daughter and my son! Then my daughter was bullied by a boy in the year below who is actually unusually small for his age. It felt hard to say 'look I know he's younger and I know he's really small, but he is hitting my daughter every day'.
I've just read the poem. Such an awful thing to happen at anytime but at such a young age when they are still so full of innocence and seeing the good in the world it must be terribly confusing. It's something I dread happening to my little girl, my sister (now 30) was bullied from being young by the same boy all the way through primary school, no matter what the school did it would just start again, and then in high school too by a group of girls, it still affects her to this day. I'm so glad something has been done about it and she is gaining the confidence to be herself again and come back to you. I hope that this never happens again to her. Kids can be so cruel x
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