This blog post summarizes the story of Susie, the blogger's daughter, who was relentlessly bullied in middle school. The bullying started with name-calling and moved to physical assaults. The school did not take effective action, so the parents went to the local news media with evidence of the bullying. This resulted in only three-day suspensions for the bullies. Susie was then homeschooled. The blogger began sharing other parents' stories of bullying to advocate for stronger anti-bullying laws.

1. Stop Bullying, Ma
The Stories of Fellow Moms
Advocating for their Children

2. Stop Bullying, Ma
• If you have stumbled across this blog, chances are, you have been
struggling with bullying in some form or another. Usually, readers’
children are being bullied and they are looking for answers about how
to help their kids cope, what legal action is available to them, and the
stories of those who have been bullied and have overcome the
experience.

3. Susie’s Story
I’m Jennifer Drapeland, the owner of this blog, and I want
to wish you a warm welcome to my website. My daughter,
Susie, was 11 years old when I first discovered that she
was being bullied. I remember thinking to myself that the
cattiness of young girls wasn’t supposed to start until she
was at least in high school, and I far underestimated the
extent that these girls would go to make sure my daughter
was miserable every day.
With the rise of social media and smartphones, it seemed
like no matter what we did, this one particular group of
girls at her middle school was relentless, and would go to
great lengths to belittle and dehumanize my daughter. It
started off with name calling: “Slut,” “Bitch,” “Fugly,” and
worse. We tried talking to the school and the girls’ parents
to no avail.

4. Once the girls began to physically assault my daughter during recess, at lunchtime, and in the
bathroom, I knew the time for talking was over, and her father and I were going to take action. We
met with the superintendent of the school district who told us that “Kids will be kids.”
We demanded he take action, and when he didn’t, we went to the press. We showed our local news
station all the text messages and social media posts, told them the stories of these bullies shoving
my daughter, pushing her down the stairs, and beating her in the school bathroom. It was only then
that the superintendent took notice. Each of the bullies got a three-day suspension, if you can
believe it.
The school implemented a “strict” no-bullying policy, but after all that Susie had been through, she
asked to be homeschooled and we obliged. She thrived going to co-ops, STEM, and dance classes
without having to worry that someone was going to degrade her.

5. About Stop Bullying, Ma
If you are interested in learning more about my daughter’s bullying
experience, you can go through my archives, as this is how this blog
began. It was difficult for me, as her mother, to go through as well
because I wanted to be my daughter’s advocate, but was constantly
being faced with people telling me I was overreacting. I knew that I
wasn’t, and it helped to get my feelings about what was happening out.
Maybe my experience could help someone else!
I began receiving stories from moms just like me who had been through
similar experiences. Some described how they handled the bullying,
while others told devastating stories about what they would do different if
their child hadn’t been able to cope with the tormenting anymore.
With the permission of these mamas, I have been sharing their stories ever
since, and have started advocating for legislation in all 50 states that would
make bullying illegal. Something has to be done, and by coming together, we
can help our children overcome this obstacle, and ensure that these bullies are
held responsible for their actions.