My Daughter | ep4: To Stand By Her, or to Fight Together

The day my daughter's bullying came to light.

There was no contact whatsoever from the parents of the four children the school interviewed.

Even if they had reached out, or
even if they had come to our home,
I don't think I could have forgiven them immediately, and it would have been awkward, but still, the complex feelings about there being "nothing"
did not fade away.

This bullying was discovered around the time the COVID-19 pandemic began to subside.

According to rumors I heard later, one of the parents on the perpetrator's side

reportedly said, "It's COVID, so of course they'd do something like sanitize (spraying disinfectant)."

I was speechless at those words.

Could they say the same if it were their own child?


Fortunately, the school my daughter attends responded quickly,
and it was a place that truly stood by her.

Having harbored distrust toward teachers
due to my son's situation,
I remember feeling a sense of relief from the bottom of my heart at this time.

According to my daughter, the main culprit was a boy who was inciting other
boys for fun.

Consulting with the school, we decided on a plan where the teachers would secretly monitor the situation
to accurately grasp the relationship between the main culprit and those around him.
In the midst of this, my daughter, who had been enduring it until then,

broke down in tears the next morning, saying, "I don't want to go to school."
With the bullying now out in the open,

would the attacks become even more intense?
Would they do something even worse?
I think my daughter's heart was

engulfed by an indescribable fear.
I struggled intensely.

I could let her stay home.
But if she gave in to fear here, wouldn't she lose the chance to wipe this fear from her heart forever?

Should I stand by her and protect her?

Or,

should I take her hand and fight together with her?

After much deliberation, I made the decision to "make her go."

I desperately spoke to my daughter, who was clinging to the bedpost and crying.

"Let's just go.

If you go and it's too much, you can always
come home."

Work doesn't matter,
I'll come pick you up right away.

If you stop going now, you might never
be able to go again."

Try fighting it once, and if it's still
too much, then we'll run away together
and find a different path."

I half-forced my daughter, who was sobbing with fear,
into the car and headed to school.

I waited in the car until her crying subsided,
and sent off her trembling back.

Then, straight to work.


Before I knew it, I was in the workplace parking lot.

I don't even remember how I drove there.

The moment I turned off the engine, tears spilled out like a dam breaking.

"Was this the right thing to do?"

"Was letting her stay home actually the right answer?"

Was I just rubbing salt in my daughter's wounds?



I had only one wish.

Please, let my daughter not be hurt any further.

After that, the form of the bullying changed little by little,
but my daughter did not take a single day
off, nor did she ever come home early.

Was that decision truly the right one?

Without an answer, it remained
in my heart for a long time.

However, two years after this incident,
I would receive that answer
through my daughter's own words.

Thank you for adding this to your magazine,
Ai-san✨

Alice Mama-san🍀

Mii-san🍀

Teinei na Kurashi-san🍀

Teika-san🍀

Perrin-san🍀