I recently spoke with a woman who had just moved to the U.S. She’d visited here for years and even attended university stateside—but she was shocked to learn how much power parents can have in the public school system… and how often we don’t use it.

She said, “I’m surprised parents are allowed to ask the schools so many questions. And even more surprised that they don’t.”

That moment reminded me: the issue isn’t that parents don’t care—it’s that they often don’t know what they’re allowed to ask.

Let’s change that.

Below are the questions and action steps every parent—whether your child is in a public or private school—should know. You can take control of your child’s education. Here’s how.

🧠 What Every Parent Can Ask the School (And Should)

✅ 1. Request Meeting Minutes from Any Parent Group

You have the right to ask for meeting notes from:

• PTA/PTO (Parent-Teacher groups)
• ELAC (English Learner Advisory Committee)
• School Site Council (SSC)
• African American Committees, or ...

Some parents do what they think will help stop it, not realizing their actions can make the situation worse. 

That’s what happened to a mother who decided to directly speak to her child’s bully. 

Perhaps she wasn’t aware that boarding a school bus was considered trespassing. That’s reason enough for her to be arrested or fined (depending on the state laws). 

But this mother went further. She began verbally assaulting the 11-year old child and she ended up fighting the child (physical assault). 

The whole thing was caught on video. But, let’s assume the child hit her first. As an adult, what are the chances that the justice system will side with the mother? 

You see, I have read many news articles about similar situations because, in my opinion, parents are not well aware of efficient ways to manage bullying situations involving their children and schools are not taking bullying complaints seriously enough. 

This is why bullying awareness and prevention education needs to be offer...

When I tell people that I’m a parenting coach who specializes in anti-bullying education, people ask “what does an anti-bullying coach do??” and “Oh, that’s a thing now?”

Yes, LOL! It’s a thing. I’ve been doing this work for five years so far and I LOVE IT! 

I decided to help parents in their journey because parenting hasn’t been so easy for me and I know that I’m not alone. Like many parents, I have had moments when I needed to ask questions but I felt that I couldn’t go to a friend or family member for an honest, unbiased answer or criticism of my kids or my husband and I’s parenting skills. 

There’s still a lot of stigma in society about parents reaching out for help. It doesn’t make sense to me because we get help for everything else in life, so, why would parenting be any different? 

There are also lots of advantages to going to a parenting coach. 

Coaches are people who give feedback without judgment, they don’t have personal knowledge of your life that can get in the way of...

Since many schools throughout the nation are returning to online learning, more kids will be tempted to navigate to their social media sites. 

And, let's be honest, they're already spending more time than any parent would want online, right? 

So, let’s talk about SOCIAL MEDIA ETIQUETTE.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ve already read or heard me talk about delaying the use of smart devices for kids until you can no longer hold back. 

You’ve also read or heard me talk about things to consider agreeing on with your kids when YOU DO give them access to devices and the internet. 

Now, let’s review a few details about online etiquette:

1️⃣  Never share or repost information that you have not confirmed. You can avoid arguments with friends and family if you follow this suggestion.

2️⃣  NEVER share or post mean comments, images, or videos about someone (even if they are notorious for being a bully)

3️⃣  Refrain from using ALL CAPS. Using all caps is a form of shouting onl...

A lady recently asked me if I could help her find a lawyer to help her niece with a bullying situation at school. 

You see, her niece was physically bullied and has been at home this week due to fear of lack of safety because the school hasn’t responded to the bullying report at all!

So, I don’t blame this high school child. If a school has allowed over two weeks to pass and not one person has responded, then I too wouldn’t go back to school without knowing they would do their best to keep me safe. 

Did you know that legally, the number one mission for all schools in the U.S. is to keep kids safe while on campus?

Yup.

Providing academic education comes second. 

So, back to this lady’s question. She wanted to know what type of lawyer should she look for and how would she be able to find a good one?

Fortunately, I’ve done my homework regarding this question and had the privilege of interviewing some lawyers who have defended children against bullying and other types of injuries or...

Ever watch the movie "Mean Girls?" The main bully, Regina was always referred to as the popular girl at school, right?

Do you recall who and how her friends behaved around her versus when they were alone with the people they tormented?

Well, they are a really good example of different types of bullies. You see, while you might think that it doesn't matter what type of bullying behaviors they exhibit, they actually do matter.

Why?

Because how they bully people can tell you a lot about how to approach their attacks and how to help them stop hurting you or others.

So, let's get started, shall we?

The first type of bully happens to be "the popular kid" (the popular bully).

Typically, the popular bully has created his/her image due to the aggressive, controlling, and manipulative methods to be perceived as dominant. Sometimes they justify their actions because they claim to be the no B.S. type of person. 

Peers tolerate this type of behavior because they have the "if you can't beat them, join them"...

Would you put your child in a bubble if you could? It’s something all parents have thought of at one point or another, right?

Honestly, I’m not one of those parents who would put their kids in a bubble. I understand the need for them to go through some life lessons, but to a certain point. 

One of the things that I have focused on is showing kids empathy because as we have all witnesses, people without empathy are more likely to intentionally hurt others. 

Then, there’s the importance of learning to deal with one’s own emotions. When children do not know how to release what they’re feeling, eventually those emotions come out in certain ways. 

Sometimes pain and frustration come out in the form of anger. When this happens to children, even they don’t often understand why they’re feeling.

At times, their emotions are taken out in the form of anger, mischief, or bullying. No parent wants to find out that their kid is the one causing others so much pain.

If you google the word “bully...

I recently overheard a conversation going on right next to me between two people. They were discussing the outrageous amount of money that rich people throw away every day on the non-sense type of stuff.

One of them said that if they could only have a few million dollars, all of their problems would go away.

That comment really caught my attention. It made me wonder how many kids believe that money solves all problems or that money can create complete happiness.

I thought about that because that conversation reminded me that I was a kid who believed that money solved all problems. I believed it because that's what I would hear adults say.

But when I became a teenager I learned that those beliefs were merely myths. Overhearing that conversation and thinking back to what I used to believe about people with monetary wealth made me reflect on what “rich” people’s hardships might look like.

I thought a bit about what it must feel like to wake up each day knowing that if something were...