Essays & General Comments 07-11-26 SCHOOL BULLIES (November 26, 2007)
Were you the bullied one at school - or were you the bully?
Little princelet came home in tears on Friday because he had been 'got at' on the way home from school. A group of boys had started calling him names and taunting him and prodding him with sticks. Princelet is a strapping young lad, he towers over me, but he is a real softie, and he takes everything to heart. He declared that he was not ever going back to school until the bullying stopped.
We have had problems off and on for a while - you know what kids are like - one day they hate each other and the next - best of friends again. But this time he was in tears and I was concerned that it was getting too physical. I managed to convince him that the best thing to do was to go to school on Monday, talk to his tutor, and talk to his head of year, and the support would be there. I promised to get in touch with the school myself and make my concerns known so he felt he had back up.
STRESSED - I was totally panicked!!! Poor little lambkin - you never stop worrying and trying to protect them do you?
Well, he did go to school this morning - primed to have a word with his tutor, and I drooped by the school and managed to catch his head of year on a free period so he had a quick word with me. I must say that I was very reassured. The chap is going to have a 'discrete' word with the lads tomorrow - if they take no notice (or pick on princetlet 'cos he told on them') they will get a light detention (ie lunch time) - if they don't stop they get a warning and evening detention - if they still won't stop parents get involved and exclusion is in the picture.
They don't seem to hang about these days. They can go from start to finish within the week if needed, and they really do seem to have a total NOT tolerated policy. They will keep a close eye on princelet in the mean time. Luckily every time something happened, I told him to talk to older pupils (buddies) and teachers he got on well with to ask for advice, so it did not come as a bolt out of the blue and the teachers did take him seriously.
Princelet did seem more settled tonight, and came home talking about the girl he has a crush on (arr). He has to put in a written statement tomorrow and (hopefully) that will see the end of it all - if not watch this space . . . you will be the second to know all about it!
Click here to return to the ESSAYS & COMMENTS page |
