YASMIEN Kurdi opened up about the pain she felt when her eldest daughter, Ayesha, was bullied in school.
“She experienced a lot of traumatic stuff in her life. Ang dami-dami niyang pinagdaanan. Naaawa lang ako sa anak ko. Sobra. And as a mom, nandito ako siyempre to protect my kid,” she said in an interview with Boy Abunda.
Yasmien shared that her daughter was bullied because of her personality. Citing one bullying incident that happened, she relayed: “It was about her personality. They were forcing her to change her personality. They ganged up on her, hinarangan siya sa pintuan ng 79 students to change her personality daw to the point na she had to state 10 negative things about herself… For a kid na daranasin niya ‘yun, naaawa ako sa anak ko.”
Yasmien claimed that it wasn’t the first time that her daughter was bullied in the said school. “We sought for help. Pumunta ako dun. It wasn’t just one time na nangyari ‘to. Actually we already filed a complaint sa Department of Education pero sana they looked into it.”
The actress took steps for her daughter to heal, which were getting Ayesha into therapy and pulling her out from her former school.
“I am really happy ngayon kasi dahil sa tulong din ng therapy, nag-therapy siya ng six months na tuluy-tuloy and then it’s very helpful for her kasi dahil dun sa mga panic attacks and anxiety attacks niya. Nung nag-therapy siya nag-home schooling agad siya kasi I pulled her out right away kasi siyempre iyon ‘yung feeling ko I had to protect her. Kailagan ko na siya tanggalin dun sa environment na ‘yun. Kung toxic, toxic. Tanggalin na,” she said.
During the homeschooling, Yasmien received help from her former teachers for her daughter.
After months of homeschooling, Ayesha is now back in regular school at a new campus. “Nagkaroon na kami ng go signal from therapist na pwede ng mag-big school ulit si Ayesha kasi she wants to do volleyball, kaya nung time ng therapy niya, pinag-volleyball class namin siya every day, pinag-hosting, dinamihan ko activities niya,” she said.
She also relayed the recent accomplishments of Ayesha in her new school: “She just hosted their career day in her new school kasi gustong-gusto niya nagho-host, and then ngayon dahil kaka-volleyball niya, [she’s part of] varsity.”
Yasmien is happy and relived for her daughter who is now in her journey to healing.
On her advice to parents who have kids who might be experiencing bullying in school, she shared: “I encourage open communication with the child all the time and kailangan talaga ‘yung kids na i-kwento nila lahat kay mommy and daddy. Huwag silang matakot, huwag silang mahiya. Walang ikakahiya dito. Like, you don’t have to be ashamed of anything.” (Push Team)
