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Another parent handed my 7yo a wildly inappropriate note while he was at camp

“That is waging war for kids that will probably go to school together for years!”

How to deal with bullying

A mum is furious after her young son received an angry letter from a parent after he was accused of bullying another child. 

Victoria recently took her son, Ethan, to summer camp in the US, which he had been looking forward to for a while. 

This isn’t the first time her son, who is seven, has visited the summer camp, but the last time he was there, he got into an altercation with another child. 

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Mum furious after 7yo recieves a disturbing letter from an adult

“Do not talk to him! Do not touch him! Do not even look at him!”

“Camp counsellors have noticed it,” his mum said in the video. “They said something to my son, said something to this other kid, also talked to me about it and also to the other parent.”

While the camp staff “did not tell me who this other child” for privacy reasons, Victoria didn’t care; she was more concerned that her son was potentially bullying another child. 

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“My kid shouldn’t be mean to anybody, no matter who they are,” she said. 

When Ethan came home from the camp, she and her husband sat the 7yo and had a firm discussion about socially acceptable behaviour with others. 

“I ... at length talked to my child, so did dad, explaining we treat people the way we want to be treated and that we are nice and we don’t do those things,” Victoria recalled. 

“We are at camp to make friends, not to make enemies. Be nice and stop your garbage.”

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Despite their best efforts, when Victoria’s husband dropped the 7yo son off at the camp the following morning, he spotted something unusual. 

“He is watching our son go into camp,” she said. 

Sitting nearby was a grandmother and her grandson, who was roughly the same age as Ethan, watching the 7yo as he made his way to the front of the campsite. 

“Apparently the woman stares at my child and says to her grandson, ‘Is that the little boy?’” Victoria continued. 

“The little boy says, ‘Yes.’ She says, ‘OK, go give this to him.’”

The grandmother, who was sitting near her grandson, handed the boy a piece of paper. The 7yo then walked over to Ethan and handed it to him. 

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Victoria was furious when she heard about the letter. Picture: wickatoria89/TikTok
Victoria was furious when she heard about the letter. Picture: wickatoria89/TikTok

Victoria was furious when she heard about the letter her son received. The first thing she noticed was the handwriting, which she argued was not completed by a 7yo. 

“So pretty much the note that was handed to my child was not written by a child,” she said. “It was written by parents, by parents yelling and bullying my son.” 

The letter itself was handed over to the camp counsellor, who said, “I’ve been teaching for 32 years, and I have never seen an adult write a child — a 7-year-old who can barely read — a note like this.” 

Without further ado, let me share the letter which was written to the 7yo: 

“Ethan, Please STAY AWAY from [boy’s name]!” it began. 

“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 and your mouth to yourself! Thanks!” 

Wow, OK. 

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The 7yo handed the letter to Ethan. Picture: wickatoria89/TikTok
The 7yo handed the letter to Ethan. Picture: wickatoria89/TikTok

 “I would take that note as a threat”

Naturally, Victoria was furious by the letter, but she was afraid she may have been “overreacting”, so she reached out to her TikTok audience for reassurance.

She was met with a wave of support, with parents online equally outraged by the letter and arguing that the other child's parents “overstepped” the line. 

“That grandparent/mum had NO right to give your son a note like that,” a comment read. “I would take that note as a threat.” 

“That is so unacceptable,” said another. “That is them waging war for kids that will probably go to school together for years! Kids have quarrels!”

“No parent should be independently communicating with a child without a parent’s consent,” wrote a third. 

“I would lose my goddamn mind,” someone added. “Sounds like they are only getting their child's version and it is probably not accurate,” read a comment. 

Others gave Victoria advice about the next steps she should take. 

“I would deal with it through the camp,” a camp director said.

“I would say that I don’t feel safe with the situation. If needed escalate it all the way up the chain with camp staff.”

The majority agreed Ethan should “stay away” from the other 7yo, lest they get involved in another awkward encounter and things escalate further. 

“To be honest, if they can’t get along, keep them apart,” someone said. 

Originally published as Another parent handed my 7yo a wildly inappropriate note while he was at camp

Original URL: https://www.thechronicle.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/another-parent-handed-my-7yo-a-wildly-inappropriate-note-while-he-was-at-camp/news-story/6094e5291cfcac40adf7145916cd3054