Letter: ‘My son was bullied’

My son was also bullied at Sonoma Valley High. He suffers from depression and low self esteem and the bullies were quick to move in on him as an easy target.

He has not become suicidal but instead offers a cold sarcastic front for the world and doesn’t trust many people to be genuinely kind. He tells me “the other kids pretended to like me and then set me up as a joke.” This began in middle school and continued through high school.

There was one teacher, Mr. Ryan, who helped him get through this difficult time. He addressed the bullies and my son and coached an intervention that helped a lot. Luckily Mr. Ryan also moved to the high school from middle school and I believe he was the only one that was proactive for the issues of bullying. We are grateful for his help but it just wasn’t enough; more staff and teachers need to address this horrible reality that hurts many kids, not just at school but for their lives afterward.

I hope SVUSD gets this message really clearly, we, as parents trust the school district to educate our children in a safe environment and it just hasn’t taken the effects of bullying seriously enough. A prayer for all the kids, bullies and the bullied. Another prayer for the parents and school leaders to listen to the kids and intervene without allowing the cruelness to continue.

Lisa Augustin, El Verano