An Austin ISD parent, Queenie, vocalizes a profound concern about her daughter's ongoing struggle with bullying beginning from the sixth grade, which has reached a point where the young girl dreads attending Murchison Middle School, "My daughter used to love to come to school. Now it's, you know, those days when she doesn't want to go to school," Queenie told FOX 7 Austin describing the bullying that included physical aggression and racial slurs, Queenie's daily calls to the school for three weeks seemed to herald no change and her daughter, after one incident fought back, which led to her being placed into an alternative learning center for 20 days.
As reported by Queenie, and in an interview with Yahoo News, the fear of school has instilled in her daughter is one that she wants the school to remedy by monitoring the hallways more vigilantly to prevent any further harm due to bullying, "I just want the school to open up and to have people in the hallways to make sure they watch because one of these kids could end up getting hurt," said Queenie.
Rosanne Carter, an infant and early childhood mental health therapist, warns of the deep-seated impacts bullying can have on children, telling Yahoo News "If one person is saying it, it must be true, or they're telling other people, other people are saying it. So, it must be true, too. They start to believe it's an internal story about them. That can be devastating. Short term and long term,"
Carter advocates for the PAUSE method, which assists parents in dealing with such issues: Pause and breathe; Acknowledge your own feelings; Understand the goal you hope to get across; State your facts, be clear and objective; Engage collaboratively with a trusted school source, Her guidance is a clarion call for parents to remain watchful of behavioral changes like deviations in sleep or eating patterns and to stand as pillars of support for their troubled children, when approaching the school, the method suggests parents should engage collaboratively with school officials, which may prove instrumental in reaching a resolution.
In response to the incident, though not speaking on specific student matters, Austin ISD has directed inquiries to its existing anti-bullying programs and resources for families, outlining its expectations for staff and students to demonstrate "appropriate behavior, treating others with civility and respect, and refusing to tolerate bullying or harassment", as per the information found on their website.
