I've been worried about a particular kid in Amelia's class lately, let's call him "C". This kid is big and pretty much ALWAYS aggressive. He pushes, squeezes hands really hard, scratches, and pulls hair. Once it took both adult teachers to pry C's hands out of Amelia's hair.
When I see this kid in the mornings, eight times out of 10 he is misbehaving. He's even thrown toys at me before! Amelia has begun copycatting this kid's actions. She's pushed and squeezed hands. And today, I got a report that she pulled one little girl's hair multiple times. And landed herself in a well-deserved timeout.
If my worries about her becoming a bully aren't enough, there's something else. Amelia showed me her arm a few times today and said "C bite". I asked her, "C bit you?". And she kept saying yes to the question. She even began to cry. I asked her if she is scared of anything, and she said yes. I asked her if she is scared of C. She said yes.
But the teachers didn't tell me anything like this today. They only told me that Amelia misbehaved. Is C just really sneaky with his actions? Or is Amelia becoming some kind of actress who makes up stories? Why would she say she got bit if she didn't? Do kids her age make up stories? I'm really at a loss on this one.
I definitely plan to ask her teachers about this in the morning. What else can I do? How do I keep my girl from mimicking this aggressive boy? Her aggression is worsening, but I don't know if it's normal behavior for her age or if it's the influence of kid C.
At the least, would I be justified in asking that she not get put in the same class as him next year?
Mamas... what would you do?
