Archive for the ‘school violence’ Category
28 September 2004
Bullied to death
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: school violence; Special Needs.
9-year old Martin (not his real name) has just been diagnosed with severe dyslexia; it was the severity that surprised his parents. His aversion to letters and words, his inability to read or want to read had his parents stumped, and at first I too thought it was merely an issue of learning readiness. Sure we’d all like every boy and girl to read and write, appreciate Shakespeare, but we’re simply not all the same. And we needn’t be, too.
But Martin is doing just fine if you ask me. His parents are homeschooling him and three other kids, and I have always thought they were among some of the better-behaved kids I have ever met. His parents are a little perplexed of course, and who wouldn’t, when professionals like Martin’s child psychologist suggests that school would do him good. Martin needs interaction, ‘socialisation,’ where he can build his self-esteem, so his parents were told.
Now, this I don’t understand.
Schools can be one of the most hurtful places for a child who’s different: if you’re slow, you’re tagged ‘dumb’ and if you’re clever, you’re a nerd or a show-off. Haven’t we heard enough about kids who were bullied out of their wits in schools? Have we forgotten Columbine?
Recently, the papers reported a suicide pact between two young girls in England. One survived, but 13-year old Laura Rhodes who died left a 1,500-page letter detailing her anguish at being bullied and teased because she was overweight. Laura’s parents in deciding to release the letter said: “The reason that we want people to read Laura’s story is that we want them to understand how demoralised, belittled, and helpless a bullied child feels.”
Laura saw herself as “ugly and worthless.” In one especially painful passage she wrote: “I moved through the people trying to ignore their nasty comments: ‘Oh my God look at the sight of her.’ ‘Yeah I know, she’s a dyke too.’ I had this every morning, lunchtime and the end of the day.”
I’m happy for Martin because he won’t need to put up with all that. I’m really glad he’s being homeschooled.