Mother of bullied learner cries out for help

The desperate mother of a bullied child at a local school has shared their woes with the Record after the bullying of her nine-year-old son was allegedly swept under carpet by the school management for a number of months.

The devastated parent, who is not named to protect her child’s identity, told us that her son has been a victim of bullying since first setting his feet on the school’s premises in 2018.

The frustrated mother brought her vulnerable son, who had two scratches across his left cheek, to our offices on Tuesday, 16 April, to discuss some of the serious bullying incidents that he had endured since last year.

“Every week last year, I would be told by other learners that my son was being kicked around, slapped, had water thrown at him, and was tossed into the dustbin or verbally abused by a group of learners,” she stated.

Also read:

https://www.citizen.co.za/roodepoort-record/2015/10/21/say-no-to-bullying/

She said after these initial reports she wrote a formal letter to the principal, who she claimed did not take any steps against the perpetrators.

She added that as the bullying continued to be violent, her son, who is now in Grade 5, stole a large amount of money which he used to ‘bribe’ the bullies at school. “He stole R5 000 at home and when I asked him what he wanted the money for, he said he pays for friendship at school,” she lamented.

After the boy returned the remainder of the money, the bullying continued, even after numerous further visits to the school, some of which resulted in tensions between her and the staff, his mother said.

According to the mother, one of the staff members went so far as to intimidate and assault her this year. She said she was left with no choice but to open a case against the staff member. Roodepoort Police spokesperson, Captain Juanita Yorke, confirmed that a case of common assault had been opened and is currently under investigation.

Since her cries seemed to be falling on deaf ears, the mother escalated the matter to the district offices of the Department of Education, as the bullying has continued, unabated.

“A meeting was convened with the bullies, and the Department decided to suspend them; however, my son was surprised to see them back at school the next day, which left him even more traumatised. When

I asked for feedback about the matter, I had no success,” she explained.

Also read:

https://www.citizen.co.za/roodepoort-record/2018/08/27/bullying-awareness-week-at-lantern-school-well-supported-web/

The most recent bullying incident occurred on Monday, 15 April, according to the mother, who is now shaken as her son keeps talking about taking his own life. “He’s been talking about committing suicide and crying because he feels that nobody at school likes him, and God does not want him to be happy,” the mother shared.

In an interview with the young boy, he said all he wanted is for the bullying to stop so that he can focus on achieving good marks.

The school was approached for comment and referred us to the Department of Education. However, we

also learnt from the mother that the school had threatened her with legal action for taking the matter to the media.

The Gauteng Department of Education’s spokesperson, Steve Mabona, confirmed knowledge of the matter and shed light on the Department’s intervention.

“The district school safety coordinator and the cluster manager convened an urgent meeting with the concerned parents and the school management for Wednesday, 10 April 2019, in order to deal with the matter. The consensus reached at that meeting was that the school would institute an investigation into the matter by obtaining written statements from all parties concerned, including witnesses. This will [probably] lead to suspension and disciplinary hearings for all those involved,” Mabona explained.

Also read:

https://www.citizen.co.za/roodepoort-record/2014/11/28/deal-bullying-schools/

He added, “The Department is fully committed to dealing with such cases and will be engaging with the school to speed up the process of investigation and suspension, if needs be”.

As part of the preliminary resolution, Mabona indicated that the learner had been moved to another class at the parent’s request, “… and the principal is monitoring the learner regularly,” he said.

He also mentioned that the district has already engaged social workers to provide counselling to the victim, his parents, and the alleged perpetrators.

Mabona also made it clear that the Department has “… a zero tolerance policy on bullying in our schools and deals with it immediately when reported. Both victims and perpetrators receive psycho-social support and counselling from the Department’s psychologists. All schools have anti-bullying policies which are made available to all learners. If the alleged transgressor is found guilty, the Department recommends diversion programmes to deal with the matter. Furthermore, the School Safety Unit has also devised a programme during which they visit schools to caution learners against bullying,” he concluded.

Do you think the mother should find her son another school, or take him for self-defence classes?

Please share your thoughts in the comments section and please note that it might be used in the follow-up on the story.