Imagine fearing the idea of going to school every day.
This is the reality for a 15-year-old boy from Krugersdorp West.
His fear came about after he was bullied by two other learners at his school recently. Unfortunately, that was not the first time he had fallen victim to a bully.
A few weeks ago the News received a video of the bullying incident. In the video the victim could be seen standing outside while two other boys continue to hit him in the face and on the head to try and provoke him to retaliate.
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The News contacted the school the learners attend and where the incident had taken place. The school responded by saying that the boys in the video and the one who recorded the video had been reprimanded and suspended from school for two weeks, while one of the boys was suspended permanently.
However, their victim said his bullies were back at school, and although they don’t bother him anymore, bullying in schools remains a big problem.
The boy’s mother said they wanted to open a case with the police but she feared that her son would become a target again.
“I just want the bullying in schools to stop,” she said.
The boy told the News that this was not his first face-off with a bully, and that he had been bullied since he was in primary school.
“One boy told me if I did not skip school with him, he would hit me or stab me with scissors,” the boy explained.
The News approached the school for clarity about the procedures they have in place to address situations like these, and if the school had any anti-bullying campaigns since they claimed to have a zero-tolerance approach to bullying.
Unfortunately after weeks of requests and being sent from pillar to post the school decided not to respond to the News about the issue.
What is bullying? The Childline South Africa website defines bullying as:
• Being called names
• Someone making up things to get you into trouble
• Hitting, pinching, biting, pushing and shoving
• Taking things away from you
• Damaging your belongings
• Stealing your money
• Taking your friends away from you
• Spreading rumours
• Threats and intimidation
According to the site, you should tell someone if you are being bullied, and even though you might be scared to look vulnerable it is still important to tell someone. They suggest speaking to a friend, parent, sibling or any other family member, and if it happens at school you should talk to your teacher.
Other tips include:
• Stay between lots of people during break time, and if you are hurt at school, tell a teacher and ask for it to be written down.
• When riding the school bus, try and sit close to the driver or other adults. If you have to walk to school and are afraid, change your route regularly or walk with other people.
• Be careful to whom you give your number if you have a cell phone. If you receive threatening phone calls or mails, tell your parents. If this continues it could result in harassment and the police could be called.
• If you see someone being bullied, tell someone about it but don’t get into trouble with the bullies; do it without someone noticing.
The 24-hour Childline SA hotline is 08000 555 55.
Information sourced from Childline website and https://www.bullying.co.uk.
