"My 12-year-old daughter, "Ayla," has had it in for a girl she goes to school with, "Katarina," also 12, for the past two years. Numerous conversations about bullying and its effects-coupled with grounding and taking away privileges-have had little impact. Two weeks ago, my wife, "Dawn," received a call from Katarina's parents requesting an in-person meeting. When we arrived at their home, they showed us security footage that captured Ayla opening the gate to their side yard and letting Katarina's pug out."
"In response, Dawn has devised a punishment that I believe is completely out of line: She wants to rehome our daughter's cat! I fully agree that what Ayla did was terrible. But we've had this cat for five years-ever since we found him living on the street as a kitten. He's just as attached to the rest of our family as he is to Ayla, and I see no reason to make him suffer by taking him away from the only home he's ever known."
A 12-year-old girl, Ayla, has bullied a classmate, Katarina, for two years despite conversations, grounding, and loss of privileges. Ayla was caught on security footage opening a gate and releasing Katarina's pug, which remains missing and has devastated Katarina. Dawn, Ayla's mother, proposes rehoming the family's cat as punishment. The family cat was rescued five years ago and is bonded to the entire family. Rehoming the cat would punish the pet and distress other children. The parents are in daily conflict, children are in tears, and one parent fears divorce over the proposed punishment.
Read at Slate Magazine
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]