My Story: Part One

My new blog has been launched today but it will not be in journal format but more of an update so that you understand what bullying is and current issues. Stay focused on it and I will try to keep you informed. You can read new posts on this blog via the RSS feed.

MY STORY

I am a victim of bullying

I have been a victim of bullying and that is why I set up this website. I figured that I could crumble under the stress and strain of the bullying or I could talk about my experiences. I also want to raise awareness of bullying and its impact on those being bullied. Well, here goes...

Since I was around 9 years old - I have been bullied. I guess I have one of those faces or perhaps it is in the way I carry myself. Who knows? Actually, I don't really care why I am being bullied. I just know that it is wrong and no one has that right to bully me.

It started in my local Welsh language school, Ysgol Gymraeg Casnewydd. I spoke Welsh fluently and loved the Welsh language. I loved school and had lots of friends. One day this kid in a school year below me started to call me names and hit me. Sometimes I wanted to fight back but I have a lot of self control. My parents teach me not to fight and to communicate using my mouth. They always told me that self-defence can be used on the right occasion and I didn't need my parents to tell me that I should not be hitting someone younger than me. Anyway, this kid kept hitting me. I told my parents and they went to the school and met with the head teacher. The head teacher made so many excuses for this kid. She said he was a general nuisance and upset the other kids too - not just me. She told me not to worry about him but she did not try to stop his behaviour. She just wanted me to understand about him. I remember, my parents were not happy with the head teachers response and they told the head teacher that they wanted to meet with the parents. The head teacher struggled to arrange this meeting. She kept saying she couldn't get hold of the kid's mother. My parents said that the head teacher did not take the matter seriously. My parents tried their best to be patient with the head teacher and the bullying but the head teacher's excuses went on. We soon reached the summer holiday and nothing had been resolved. I was worried about the kid throughout the holiday. I don't know how it happened but I began to get fearful of the bully. I kept telling myself he was younger than me, but it did nothing cos I still felt scared. It didn't help that my younger brother was due to start at the school after the summer holiday. Anyway, after the summer holiday the kid hit both me and my brother and that was it. My mother and father called the school and the school secretary said that the incident happened on the school bus and our safety could not be guaranteed on the bus.

My parents were very angry that the bullying had become so out of hand and that this bully could not be controlled by the school. So my parents called Gwent Police. The Police responded well. The Police Officer advised my parents that they should contact the Local Education Authority and not send us back to school until the matter had been resolved by the LEA. They also said that they wanted to speak to the school because I had also been racially abused while at the school. The Police Officer suggested that the bullying could also be motivated by race seeing that I am black and it did not appear the bully was targeting any other kids. The Police assigned us a Police Liason Officer who arranged to run diversity training at the school. The head teacher agreed but THEN the Police Liason Officer told my parents that: shockingly, the head teacher had telephoned her to say that she no longer wanted to go ahead with the diversity training.

My parents had contacted my Local Education Authority writing to the Head of Education and Inclusion, but after sending my parents an acknowledgement that the letter had been received, this Head of Education and Inclusion left me and my brother out of school for over 9 months while he investigated the matter. Not even the Schools Management department at the Welsh Assembly Government and the South East Wales Race Equality Council (SEWREC) could make this man act. My parents told him that being black boys - research shows that my brother and I are already at a disadvantage. The Head of Educational and Inclusion did not appear to care about my brother and I being out of school. I had lost my Welsh education and so did my brother - and sister, who was also due to start at the nursery but could not attend because of this matter.

Conclusion

My Local Education Authority and my head teacher failed me. The education system failed me.