UNCATEGORIZED

What’s a mom to do after son shoots a neighbor’s window?

Feb 18, 2013, 6:06 PM | Updated: Feb 19, 2013, 10:33 am

This is the kind of damage done to a window after an 11-year-old boy, tired of being bullied by a n...

This is the kind of damage done to a window after an 11-year-old boy, tired of being bullied by a neighbor woman, shot at her window. (M. Crandall photo)

(M. Crandall photo)

For a couple of years a mom has been telling her son to ignore their neighbor who gives him dirty looks. He did. Until recently.

The mom – I’m not using her name – wrote to me asking for advice. Here’s her situation. Their neighbor is a 25-year-old woman who “has been bullying” the mom’s 11-year-old boy for the past two years.

“She tells him he needs to stop making her dogs bark when they play outside,” mom writes. “They don’t purposely make them bark, they are just playing out in my back yard. She has told him our dog is ugly and she gives him dirty looks, just antagonizes him in so many ways.”

The mom has told her son to ignore the neighbor and “don’t stoop down to her level.”

“There have been times where she told me that he is a bad kid while he is standing there. He’s actually a good kid. He gets A’s in school, plays sports, and plays with anybody and everybody,” she writes.

Police were called to the otherwise quiet neighborhood after the son “shot at her window” with a BB gun, and he’s in trouble. He will have to pay to repair the window. She doesn’t have a problem with that.

The officer involved also told the 11-year-old he needs to apologize to the neighbor. But the mother thinks that’s not right because she sees him as the victim of the neighbor’s bullying.

“I want my son to be the bigger person and apologize. He is in trouble for what he did, but I don’t want him to feel like it’s okay to be bullied. Any advice would be helpful.”

I don’t know the neighbor’s side of this. There are at least two sides to every story. I think her son needs to apologize. It’s a simple thing to do and could head off a situation where the neighbor pursues the case legally to teach the boy a lesson she doesn’t think he’s learned.

Beyond that, what are your suggestions for this mom?

By LINDA THOMAS

Uncategorized

kent trooper shot...

Kate Stone

Man faces multiple charges after WSP trooper shooting in Kent

A man accused of shooting a Washington State Patrol trooper multiple times in Kent last Friday has been charged.

1 month ago

Oregon Emergency Landing - (Elizabeth Le via AP)...

KIRO 7 News Staff

‘Everyone was eerily calm,’ recalls passenger aboard ill-fated Alaska Airlines flight

Terror in the skies: A Vancouver, Washington, woman shares the harrowing moments after an airplane blowout over Portland.

3 months ago

Photo: SPD vehicle...

KIRO 7 News Staff

Two men shot at bus stop in North Seattle near Northgate

Two men were shot at a bus stop along Aurora Avenue Wednesday, according to the Seattle Police Department.

5 months ago

Manuel Ellis arrest, Tacoma police officers...

Associated Press

Prosecutors focus on video evidence in trial of Washington officers charged in Manny Ellis’ death

A cellphone video of the 2020 fatal arrest of Manny Ellis shows the Black man on the ground with his hands in the air in surrender

6 months ago

...

No Author

EXPIRED: Win tickets to see Stokley at EQC!

KIRO Newsradio is giving you a chance to win two tickets to see Stokley at the Emerald Queen Casino on Saturday, November 11, 2023!

6 months ago

(File photo)...

L.B. Gilbert

NLRB files complaint against Amazon for unlawful confidentiality agreement

A new complaint from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB ) is accusing Amazon of requiring some corporate employees to sign an unlawful confidentiality agreement. The complaint states Amazon had required a former employee from its drone project, Amazon Prime Air, to sign an agreement that forbade discussion of information regarding Amazon, whether or not […]

7 months ago

What’s a mom to do after son shoots a neighbor’s window?