School a living hell

A Coast father has told how his heart ached as he watched his son’s spirit being broken by schoolyard bullies.

The Tewantin dad, known only as Glen, watched his 12-year-old boy’s once exuberant self-confidence crushed into pieces during a two-month ordeal he could do nothing to stop.

Name calling, threats, teasing, physical abuse and social exclusion made his son’s once happy school life a living hell.

Despite struggling to make ends meet as a self-employed small businessman in the midst of global financial crisis, Glen and his wife decided to pull their son out of the Noosa district public school and put him in a private school.

All other avenues had failed and Glen says he had lost faith in the public system.

He felt compelled to share his family’s story in the hope that something could be done so that no one else has to feel the pain his family has been through.

Glen said his son spent 2009 as captain of his primary school.

“At his graduation ceremony he was presented with a high achiever award having finished the year with all As and Bs on his report card,” he said. “He had just won first place at the school talent quest for his piano playing and the three-piece outfit in which he played guitar came second.

“This year he had started his first year of high school with all the optimism, expectation and trepidation one would expect from a young boy being placed in a new and unfamiliar environment.

“However, it quickly became apparent that this was not going to be a nurturing environment for a sensitive and intelligent boy.”

From day one, Glen says his son was subjected to the most vile racial abuse and vilification from other boys.

Despite being a karate black belt, Glen’s son did not retaliate.

“It not safe to fight back anymore, kids are bringing weapons to school,” Glen said.

“And violence begets violence.

“When I talked to the principal about this he acknowledged that he was aware of the situation and intended to implement a program to the get Year 8s and 9s back into the playground,” Glen said.

“Sadly, it was too late for my son. It got to the stage where the thought of going to school was making him ill.

“My conversations with the principal and his school counsellor seemed to do little to alleviate his situation.”

Glen said he had never felt so hopeless in his life.

“Bit by bit my son was becoming increasingly depressed. At first he tried to suppress it, but it became clear that it was a big deal. Of course there was bullying when I was younger but not as nasty.”

Glen said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s suggestion that parents whose children are bullied should pick up the phone and call the other child’s parents was not well thought out.

“When you see your son hurting you don’t want to do anything to make it worse,” Glen said.

“As a parent you don’t want to believe your child could do something so vindictive. The first reaction of the parent would be denial and they would be likely to tell their child.”

Glen said he and his wife made the decision to send their son to a private school despite the cost.

“We looked at the option of sending him to other public schools in the area but he said the bullies had friends there too,” he said.

“We can only hope the environment at the new school will be more conducive to allowing a bright young boy to fulfil his potential.”