A worried mother has spoken out after her eight-year-old son suffered relentless bullying at a Gold Coast school.
The desperate mother has gone to the media to tell her story after, she says, the school told her and her partner to seek counselling for being “overprotective.”
Amanda Monroe’s eight-year-old-son has told The Gold Coast Bulletin that he just wants to do maths, not be tormented,
“I don’t like being hurt” Iziyah said.
The year two student at Southport State School has had his uniform shirt slashed with scissors, has been held down in the playground, has been strangled and pushed. He’s been given bruises and blood blisters and cuts and punched in the stomach.
Iziyah said he is terrified to go to school as despite complaints the bullying continues.
Ms Monroe says her son has nightmares but the school does nothing.
She says that due to the continued bullying Iziyah developed an eating disorder.
“At school, kids were throwing dirt in his food so he wouldn’t eat it.
“We were getting really worried and the doctor said it was probably due to the bullying, that he believed the comments and didn’t want to get bullied anymore.”
Southport State School Via Facebook.
Ms Monroe told The Gold Coast Bulletin that during a meeting with the school about the bullying she and her partner were told they were “overprotective” and should seek counselling. Though when they had the suggested counselling Ms Monroe says that psychologist told them they “were loving, devoted and protective parents.”
The school’s sole solution, according to his mother, was to put Iziyah in a classroom by himself at lunchtime.
Schools in Queensland have a no tolerance policy towards bullying. Via IStock.
Sadly situations like Iziyahs are ones we hear of all too often.
In June a 12-year-old student at Dysart State High School in small-town central Queensland was forced to start a petition to gain support for her bullying issues.
Tayla Sekhmet hit out at teachers and the education department for not doing more to stop the bullying.
She wrote” Every day people call me fatso, weirdo, ugly, freak, and tell me I should kill myself. I've been pushed to the ground, had people go through my bag, or break my scooter when I rode it to school. Even people in other grades who I don't know do these things to me too.”
Her petition received more than 110,000 signatures but the bullying led to Tayla attempting suicide.
A spokesperson for the Queensland Department of Education and Training told Mamamia that "the health and well-being of students continues to be the school’s top priority."
"The Principal, teachers and support staff worked closely and diligently with the family for some time to try to resolve their concerns."
The spokesperson said "the school has investigated all complaints made by the parent and has resolved these complaints in line with departmental policy and to the satisfaction of the parent."
"Support measures were put in place which involved the school and the student’s family. The school has continued to engage with the parent to provide continued support to the student."
Schools in Queensland have a no tolerance policy towards bullying. Education Department’s website says that that schools use a range of proactive strategies to deal with bullying behaviour.
“All students and parents are encouraged to raise concerns they have with their school principal immediately so that action can be taken to address the problem.”
But many say it is not enough. In Australia there is no national legislation against bullying.
The Guardian reports that Victoria is the only state in which serious bullying is punishable as a crime for minors. Many think this policy should be federal, with former chief justice of the family court, Alastair Nicholson, one of the supporters of the criminalisation of bullying implemented on a sliding scale.
Meanwhile parents, students and teachers suffer daily.
For Iziyah the bullying has meant he has paid a drastic toll, with his parents taking the drastic step of removing him from his school because they fear for his safety, they are currently trying to find another school for the eight-year-old to attend.
For help: Lifeline 13 11 14. Kid's Helpline: 1800 55 1800. The National Centre Against Bullying.
Top Comments
"Biggest lie told in public schools: bullying will not be tolerated "
Kids will be bullied day in, day out. You can call the school over and over again, they say they care, but do precisely sweet FA. The victim will get to the point where they lash out, sometimes violently, at the bully, due to lack of school intervention. The victim will then have severe ramifications for hitting or flipping out, with the bully getting off scott free.
My son was bullied badly all through primary school and into high school. Lucky for him, he has parents who have instilled some coping mechanisms, a bit of self confidence and given him some tools to help him deal with it, but not all kids have that support or parents who fully understand what it is like to be picked on just for being you.
Schools can talk about their anti bullying policies until they're blue in the face but it means nothing until they put those policies into practice. Until then they are just words on paper and hold no worth.