What should someone do if their child is special needs and gets bullied? The child may not realize they are being bullied and the bullies may take advantage of that.
What is the schools responsibility when a situation like this occurs?
^^ Not an easy answer to this one unfortunately.. the school has a responsibility to keep the child physically safe and to prevent them from being visibly bullied.
All too often though, the bullies discover that an easy option is to bully the child behind the teachers backs.. and then the teachers say that they can't do anything because they can't see it happening.
They will try to investigate but often give up at the first sign of the bully saying ''it didn't happen''
There are a few things that you can try..
1. if talking to the teacher doesn't help.. go directly to the headteacher.. they may be able to do something.
2. ask to see a copy of their policy on bullying.. it will explain what they must do in these situations.
3. call the local authority, they usually have a dedicated person that can intervene and liaise with both you and the school.
4. try speaking to the parents of the children.. this may or may not be helpful depending on the parents.
5. if the bullies are over the age of criminal responsibility - it may be possible to get the police to speak to them
6. if all else fails and your child is suffering because of it then a final resort would be to change schools.. just bear in mind that they may face the same issue in their next school because children do tend to have a ''pack'' mentality and pick out the weakest child to prod.
If the childs special needs are big enough, could you try to get them placed into a more suitable special needs school..? they'll be in a safer environment and with peers rather than children too far above them..
xx