Not sure how it got this way or how to fix it. About 10 neighbor kids from 5 different houses are bullying our 2 sons. They all tend to play on the street on scooters, bikes and have water gun fights - all in fun - and my kids had a great time for many months. Recently, my kids got acused of ringing and running at the next door neighbors house - the mother of their friend is ill. My kids say she took forever to answer the door and that they didn't ring and run (who knows?) Some other kids rang our bell and ran and it made my husband mad and he yelled that he would call the police (extreme, I know . Also an older girl of 15 pushed my 10 year old and knocked him down so I nicely told her mother that her daughter and my son were antagonizing each other and I thought she'd like to know that. She didn't appreciate the idea that her daughter would do any wrong. Now, my sons aren't angels (but very close ) but now all these kids are saying mean things when my friendly 6 yr. old rides his scooter up the street. This seems to be getting worse and worse. I even feel as if the adults don't like us now; oh am I just imagining all this, and how to begin to fix it? I am not really very outgoing. Our egos are feeling the hurt and these people really don't seem to give a hoot at all.
I don't like this 'elementary' feeling I'm having. It brings back memories that I didn't need to dig up.

The 15 year old, if she puts unfriendly hands on your son again, should face criminal charges. (And your husband really needs to lighten up) Beyond protecting your kids from actual violence, there's not much that can be done but to let it blow over, and it will... another kid on the block will commit some heinous act and become the new scapegoat thus allowing your kids off the hot seat. I know you don't want to hear this, as a matter of fact, I don't even want to write it but it may hasten the end of this episode of Grammar School Confidential.... If you can bear the idea, you might suggest that your sons apologize to the alleged "Ring and Run" victim... they don't actually have to say they did anything wrong, just say they're sorry there was a misunderstanding... With as badly as it sounds like everyone has behaved, I don't blame you a bit if your reaction to that is along the lines of "When Hell Freezes!" but sometimes taking the high road means extending the olive branch to jerks who don't really merit one.

If bullying is the problem, it seldom is solved by going to the parents of the bully, since they'll likely go on the defensive, and they are often anyway (but not always)the root cause of their child's bullying. If the bullying goes on in school, speak to school oficials about it. But in the long run, it is best to teach your child how to deal with bullies. There is a lot of info on the web on how to do this, and much literature is available on the subject.

Mrs. S - my sons actually did decide to apologize to the ill neighbor lady back then. I made them write a paragraph of how to solve the problem (the ring & run part, a few weeks ago) and they said they would apologize and to this day still insist they didn't do it. Whatever . . . . that part was pretty easy. The lady has one son and he is just so mean to my youngest son still. Just yesterday, as my son scooters by his house, all he can do is snarl and say - "you better stay off my property". So, at this point we have 2 plans, teach the kids how to stay strong through the persecutions, and when we have the annual block party next weekend, we are considering buying a keg of beer, (loosening everyone up that way) and being as friendly as we can. I doubt the neighbor kids will be heckling our kids in front of all the adults, but ya never know . . .
thanks!!!!!

Both sound like good plans... knowing how to keep ones dignity in unpleasant situations will serve your kids their whole lives, and a keg rarely goes amiss.