IT'S NICE of the Globe to do free PR for the city of Newton, but perhaps you should have done more investigative journalism before publishing the April 26 editorial "Standing up to bullies." Our son was bullied throughout first and second grade in the Newton public schools. He was routinely excluded and teased, and was physically assaulted by three second-grade classmates who threw him repeatedly against a chain link fence, pushed him to the ground, and kicked wood chips at him. Later that year, a classmate threatened to throw him in the Charles River on field day, and another said he was going to bring matches to school and set him on fire. Our pleas for help were either ignored or met with helplessness. The system's response was ineffectual — halfhearted at best and negligent at worst. If any anti-bullying curriculum exists in Newton, my children have not had it.

We recently took our child out of the Newton schools because of repeated problems, stemming from the bullying, that had made it impossible for him to function in school. We made the right decision, but we wish it didn't have to come to that.

PATRICIA HUNT
Newtonville