Bullying drives family from town | Rockhampton News | Local News in Rockhampton | Rockhampton Morning Bulletin

Bullying drives family from town | Rockhampton News | Local News in Rockhampton | Rockhampton Morning Bulletin
THREE years of merciless bullying has finally driven a Blackwater State High student and his family from the town.
The mother of the 16-year-old boy, who suffers from disabilities including epilepsy and diabetes, said after years of taunts and physical violence, an incident last Tuesday was the final straw.
“We've dealt with it and we've dealt with it and now I've just had enough,” she said.
“In the last three years my son has been picked up by the throat and pushed up against a brick wall, he's been punched in the arm, and he's been constantly subjected to cruel remarks.
“I have yet to find out what took place last Tuesday – he has clammed up and will not talk about it, but he was ropeable when he got back from school – really, really upset.”
The mother described her desperation as she struggled with the school and authorities to stop the bullying:
“I've been in to the school countless times.
“I've been to see the principal, and I've been to the education department. I've done absolutely everything in my power and the response is always the same: ‘We'll talk to your son, we'll talk to the bullies'. It never happens.
“Last year at school he was strangled by a child and the child wasn't even suspended.”
The constant bullying has taken its toll on her son's mental health, she said.
“He has tried to commit suicide three times – he has tried to jump in front of a car on the back streets near the school and he has also tried to overdose on insulin. He has no self-confidence and no self-esteem – he's just a wrecked little kid.”
Left with no choice but to remove her son from the school, the mother says she feels let down by the teachers and education authorities.
“The bullying should have been addressed a long time ago instead of letting it get to this point,” she said.
“I understand school-yard bullying, but this has gone way beyond that and nothing has been done.”

Bullying is very real in Australia, not long ago a lady was abused and laughed in a shopping center, because she did not have any hair due to cancer treatment, a lot of people were present and no one said anything in her defense.
Despite thousands of people being diagnosed with cancer and doing treatment, we do not see many women without hair ...maybe it is not just due to vanity.
Do you see disability people in the media or in the streets? Glee is addressing that but we need more ...
We need to be more empathic and educated about disabilities. How? Less emphasis in the looks by the magazines, and media, more on other attributes such as intelligence and good citizenship and school programs that address this type of bullying and unacceptable rules with hard consequences.
I really do not understand how children are not educated to be tolerant and humane to other people problems. Very sad indeed.
The government and the community should address bullying, the family should not have to move. what about the future abuse the bullies will cause.
They should not get away with a simple slap in the wrist, they are not learning any lessons and will continue to torture others in the future.
Not addressing this problem when they should will cause the community to have violence in their streets, workplace and in families.