Dear MIMsters: There’s Bullying on the School Bus and My Daughter Is a Victim

I have a ten year old daughter who is in her first year of Secondary School, JSS1. She rides in the school bus to and fro school everyday.

There’s this particular girl who joins the bus that bullies my daughter. She always tries to shut my daughter up when she attempts to contribute to discussions on the bus. She’s also in the same class year as my daughter but will tell her to keep quiet.

She even went as far as giving my daughter a nickname which everyone including the bus attendant calls my daughter. When I got to know, I angrily went to the school to complain to the proprietress. The bus drivers tried to stop me, telling me that it won’t happen again and I left. The nickname calling stopped.

The next day, this bully told my daughter that she is not the only who has a mother, and that since my daughter likes trouble, that she will give it to her. My daughter would come home crying and she hardly talks. I told her to always avoid the bully.

Last week, my daughter returned home in tears again. I got so angry that I found out where the bully lives and when to explain my daughter’s predicament to the bully’s mother. I told her to please call her daughter to order. The bully’s mother was speechless. She and her husband both apologized to me and said that they will talk to their daughter.

The next day, my daughter came back home and told me that the bully indeed apologized to her and asked her to forgive her.

My anger right now is with the bus driver and the bus attendant. They did nothing but watched my daughter suffer. Why didn’t the bus attendance report the matter to the school authority?