'Bullying only stopped when we moved schools'
My 6-year-old grandson, Dale, was bullied at school almost from day one. He'd come home with mysterious bruises on him and he was always 'losing' things before he finally admitted other boys were taking them.
It really upset him and it was awful watching him go from being really chatty and happy to really down in the dumps. It was stopping him getting on at school too although we were more worried about how he felt. We look after Dale because his mum can't and we didn't really know what to do about it.
We tried talking to Dale's teacher about it and she said she'd keep an eye on him. But nothing much changed and after a year, we decided to move him to a different school. It wasn't an easy decision as it seemed a bit drastic but so far Dale's much happier. He used to dread getting up in the mornings but now he's up before me.
I'm not saying moving school's the solution for everyone but it helps to know it's an option. I think it's better to do it sooner rather than later as well. Otherwise kids might start to be scared of school in general.
Carol Beardmore, Thirsk, North Yorkshire
By Carol Beardmore, Thirsk, North Yorkshire
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pauline, 7 months
my son was bullied for three years we talked to the teachers and they said they would watch him but it still continued this was a popular boy with lots of friends who played sports i don't think they believed a child like that could be bullied the crunch came when he got hurt, i complained and was told the bullies had the same rights as my child and there was nothing they could do. i called theparents advice centre( brillant help) they gave some advice and i contacted a solictor within 2 days i had meeting with the board of governors and since that day there has'nt been an incident thank god. he is much happier now but like above i think it affected him deeply he has had counselling and seems to be making good headway i really feel for any parents or child dealing with bullying
Report this commentjen, about 1 year
Moving school for our child worked wonders too-she is now so so happy! she was dreadfully bullied on school transport by older children too! The headmaster was totally unsympathetic towards us and said it was nothing to do with them as it wasnt happening on school grounds-even though the transport was set up through the school. I know moving schools for many parents and children is a big upheaval, but it worked out so well for us.
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Judy Roylance, about 1 month
My grandson (I'm his guardian as well as his mums who is an adult of special needs) was seriously bullied at his primary catholic school for 4 yrs and even though we went in virtually every other week, nothing was really done about the bullying. We took him out of that school for two terms and into another school, but within the last few weeks of the 2nd term, the main bully (Actually it was two but we only thought there was one bully) moved into that school. We took him back to the original school assuming that the bully was gone. But again the bully (both) followed him back to that school. We were getting complaints off the Education department about the time he had off school, but they weren't concerned about bullying (The head stated to them that there was no bullies at his school !!!) Just over-protective parents & grandparents. Then the bully attcked my grandson in full view of a teacher causing him to suffer a small fracture of the skull. The head still tried to deny it had happened there but we had the evidence needed. We took him straight out of the school and moved him to a school out of the area for the last 12 months of primary education. What a change with a school that cares !!! He loved it there and came on in leaps & bounds, whereas he was very behind at the other school. The new school also spotted that he is mildly autistic which the old school refused to listen to us when we asked for an assessment. I only wish I'd taked him there in the first instance of bullying. Unfortunately it has caused a rift in my family due to finding out at the head injury point who the main bully was (My grandson would never tell us as he didn't want to upset us when I found out it was my other daughters child that had caused this injury and with others made his life hell. My other daughter has not spoken to any of us since then as she doesn't see how wrong her daughter was. She thought this was the best thing for her daughter, not too get bullied by being the bully. Sad idea but in the end you have to do whats right for the child thats being bullied.
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