Raising children is no easy task, especially as a single mother. Samm Jane, a 32-year-old mother of 5 from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, was absolutely horrified when she was contacted by her son’s school and told that he was cyberbullying a fellow pupil. Sammâs 11-year-old son had been sending cruel messages to one of the girls in his school, leaving her shocked at the fact that her son would be capable of such cruelty.
After receiving the phone call, Samm became determined to see exactly what was said to the girl.
When her son arrived home from school that day, she demanded that he unlock his phone so that she could see if the allegations were true, and shockingly enough, it was. She was mortified to learn that he had called the girl, âuglyâ, âfat, a âc**t, âb**hâ, and a ât**tâ. He also went on to say, âI never want to see your ugly face in school. Your ugly face and fat body offend me.â
The girl responded to his messages by saying, âStop being horrible to me,’ to which he replied in a voice note, âUrgh, youâre disgusting.â She recalls how she was âshaking with anger after reading the messages and said to him, âWhat are you playing at?â.
All the son had to say in response was, âShe does my head in at schoolâ, to which Samm replied; âI donât give a f**k.â âI told him, âSheâs going to be looking in the mirror now and feeling insecureâ. I couldnât let it goâ. Due to data protection rules, the school could not give Samm the girlâs name, but the single mom was determined to find out who she was and make things right. Samm got on the phone, did some investigating, and eventually found out who she was and where she lived.
Read: Dad shamed for excluding bully from childâs party after inviting rest of class
She then did what most parents wouldnât do.
She made her son spend his birthday money on flowers and chocolates and marched him over to her house to formally apologize, not only to her but to her parents too!
The parents were shocked as their daughter hadnât told them she was being bullied. Samm made her son explain exactly what he was sorry for once they arrived at her house. Her dad then told the boy; âIâm not going to lie mate if you were a grown-ass man and you said that to my daughter, I would have kicked your head in.â
Samm said she made it clear that her son would ânever speak to a female like that again.â The girlâs parents commended Samm for bringing her son over to apologize and for being a âdecent parentâ. Later, the mother of the girl texted Samm saying it was brave of her to come round and bring the situation to light as her daughter had just said they had fallen out.
Samm then confiscated all of her sonâs electronic devices for a week after this all happened. She went on to say that he was so desperate to get his phone and other devices back that he even offered her money for it.
Read: Should Schools Fine the Parent of a Bully?
Samm shared her story on Tiktok
The day after she got the call from the school, Samm shared her tale online and said, âNow Iâm a single mom and raising a boy to be a man can be quite difficult, âBut if thereâs one thing Iâve always said, itâs, âYou f**king respect these women, you donât disrespect themâ, âSo even though heâs eleven years old and a kid, nothing he can say will justify what he said to this girl. Everâ.
Since her viral post. Samm has gained over one million views and had thousands of people comment and applaud her for her âproper old school parentingâ. One woman commented; âYes queen. If my boys ever do anything like this, I will be doing the same!! So proud of you.â She even had a teenage girl comment; âAs a teenage girl, you are a brilliant mom for that. Thank you for making him unlearn his ways. So many boys my age are so disrespectful.â
Since the incident and apology, Samm has made sure her son understands the impact words can have on a person. âI sat him down and explained how people kill themselves or self-harm because of what people sayâ said Samm.
Samm hopes to help other parents make the right choice
She then added; âIâve always told him about body positivity and about how women come in different shapes and sizes. Thatâs why I was so angry – why would he say all these things when Iâve told him to be respectful?â I wanted to share it so other people could see it and think âI donât want my boy to be like thatâ.
âWeâve got to bring up the next generation. Itâd be so much easier if parents taught their boys – and girls – to apologize and to make up.â âIf a million people have seen that video, then a million parents can make a change.â said Samm. Samms old-school parenting and morals are a rarity in todayâs society and we can only hope that more parents realize how important it is to teach the new generation what is acceptable and what is not.
Keep Reading: Father takes daughterâs bullying victim on a shopping trip to teach her a lesson
Sources
- “TikTok Mom Forces Son to Apologize to Girl He Bullied.” Parent Herald. Mavic Thompson. June 24, 2022
- “Single mother who found out her son, 12, called a classmate ‘fat’ and ‘ugly’ reveals she marched him to her house.” Daily Mail. Jessica Taylor. June 21, 2022.