We hear daily from parents who have had enough. They have had enough of their kids being pushed or abused verbally, picked on or insulted. In most cases a school district is helpless, or cannot help, or perhaps for other reasons, does not help. Bullying can be a complex topic, and it takes courage to overcome it at every level. At Obridge Academy, we look at films like Bully and we are shocked with the rest of the nation of what humans are capable of doing to each other.
There is a solution. Send your child to an online school. It doesn’t have to be ours, but we appreciate being considered. But talk to parents who attend an online school. The drama is gone. There will be some adjustments, some challenges and some alternative ways to connect your child with others, perhaps through safer places and through affinity groups that are less threatening or smaller. There will be ways to connect your child to safer activities locally. Online school is not for everyone, but if your child is being bullied, consider the option. It makes sense and is an obvious part of the solution. Remember, you have the right to send your child to a private school.
Bullying can happen online, of course. Our program does not automatically make us completely immune from online bullying. We do, however, go to extra lengths to monitor all communication, and in a digital world we have much greater control over activity than an unmonitored schoolyard. Ask Edward Snowden, the digital ability to track and monitor is vastly superior to the unmonitored school bus ride. We think you will be pleased with the option for online schooling for a student who has previously been bullied. Your student can work free of the pressure of fitting in. They can study at their own pace and work with teachers who care about them. They can avoid the constant harassment that has become the school bully.