Mom Wonders If She Has A Right To Be Mad That Her Son Received An Unkind Note From Another Kid's Parent At Camp
She thinks it was out of line for her son to receive such a threatening letter from adults.
Diego Cervo | Shutterstock A mom sought advice regarding a situation involving her 7-year-old son and another kid at their summer camp, which ended with her son receiving a reprimand from that child's caregiver.
In a TikTok video, a mom named Victoria revealed that she's worried her anger will get the best of her because she was rather close to "going off" on another parent about her son.
She questioned if she had a right to be mad after her son received an unkind note from another kid's parent at camp.
Victoria explained that her son and one of his camp friends sometimes get into arguments while playing together — standard stuff for 7-year-olds. The camp counselors noticed and talked with both boys about their behavior.
They also spoke to Victoria and to the parent of the other child, but for safety reasons, they kept the little boy's identity to themselves, which Victoria didn't mind at all. She admitted that she understood the gravity of the situation and pointed out that she wasn't going to stand for her child being mean to anybody.
"I, at length, talked to my child, and so did Dad, explaining we treat people the way we want to be treated and that we are nice and don't do those things. We are at camp to make friends, not to make enemies. Be nice and stop your garbage," she recalled. After that talk, her son promised that he would work harder to be nice to the other little boy.
The morning after their chat, Victoria's husband took their son to camp and watched him go inside. The other little boy that their son had gotten into it with was also there with his grandmother.
Victoria learned from her husband that the grandmother was staring at their son and said to her grandson, "Is that the little boy?" The little boy confirmed with his grandmother that it was, referring to the boy who was mean to him in the past.
Upon confirmation, the little boy's grandmother gave him a note to pass to Victoria's son, which sparked Victoria's anger.
At first, Victoria's husband thought it a bit weird that their son was being passed a note by another adult, but he ushered the 7-year-old into camp and brought the note back home to Victoria.
In the note, Victoria's son was told to 'stay away' from the other little boy.
The part that made Victoria angry was the fact that the note wasn't written by a child for a child but rather by an adult for a child. Sharing the note, it stated: "Ethan, Please STAY AWAY from [name of boy]! Do not talk to him! Do not touch him! Do not even look at him! You guys do not get along! I do not want to hear another incident that involves you! Keep your hands + your mouth to yourself!!!"
Even the camp counselor, who was shown the note, was flabbergasted by it and said that in their 32 years of teaching, they had "never seen" something like that.
Victoria pointed out that it was outright bullying that her son was experiencing by the parents of the other child, which did not sit right with her. There are better ways of handling this situation than handing a note to a 7-year-old. The parents of the other boy could've scheduled a meeting between the camp, themselves, and Victoria and her husband instead of directly involving their son.
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At the end of the day, he's just a child, and it's clear that the other parents have overstepped. If they felt that their son was being mistreated by Victoria's son and nothing was being done about it, then that is an issue to take up with adults and not her son.
Many people in the comments section encouraged Victoria to go to the camp director with the note and insist that her child be moved away from the other little boy. Additionally, she should request a meeting with the little boy's parents and the camp director to make sure nothing like this happens in the future.
The camp counselor made sure to keep both of the boys' identities a secret for a reason since there was no need for Victoria or the other set of parents to know because it wouldn't have solved anything, so for them to ignore that and still try and single out Victoria's son is simply unacceptable.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.