Deancm_MKII

You think there is no bullying in Australia? There's plenty of it in Oz. No different from the UK in that respect.

TheRutters

Dean, we are in Australia. My own experience is that bullying is far worse here than anywhere else my kids have gone to school

paddyo, thanks for the support. In the last hour I have gone from getting upset to getting busy. I was very much thinking along the lines that you were and will be going in to the school with OUR agenda and not theirs

Deancm_MKII

OK. From your post I read it as though you were still in the UK hoping for a better life for your son in Oz. Agree, bullying is a problem in Oz.

Seneca21

Bullying is a problem in shit schools and there are shit schools all over the world. If the headmaster is no good then the school is shit, and this includes expensive schools as well.

Name-calling etc can be dealt with but physical assaults are over the line. I would tell the headmaster that there needs to be a serious effort to make me and my child happy or it's going to end bad for him, i.e. ombudsmen, local councils, local press, national press, lawyers, ABH suits ETC.

spartacus

Hope you get it sorted out for you and your little fellas sake . . . good luck.

Deancm_MKII

Name-calling can have a deeper psychological and emotional impact that is far worse and lasts longer than bumps and bruises ever will.

Seneca21

I know first hand, but like I said, it can be dealt with. why schools are so piss poor at dealing with bullying in general continues to vex me.

TheRutters

Parental support is a large factor there. 'It's part of growing up' seems to be the attitude, closely followed by 'he needs to harden up'.

I think it may be different when their kids come home with serious bruising and get suspended when they get beaten by two other kids.

Will be meeting with the school later this week.....back to the original thread!

Margaret3

I am really sorry but unless you lived in the roughest area in the uk why could your children not play on their scooter, basketball or AFL ball in the UK ?

I have been in both countries with my kids and there is no difference - drugs here drugs there, pervs here pervs there, rain here rain there - why can they not have freedom here. My two children have their freedom and we get so many comments on how confident and rounded they seem to be.






Just my opinion.[/QUOTE]


yep was my biggest bugbear when i cam to oz, suddenly my lovely 8 year old who loved to play outside didnt, she became moody and gained weight, however been here over three years now and she is used to being housebound........not quite housebound.......now we pay an arm and leg for sports a couple of times a week to get her out the house/.

jad n rich

The crazy no blame PC bullying policy came in while my boys were still in primary. Eg. So during the pile driving phase ( large kids picking up other kids and dropping them head first into concrete paths ) both kids were treated as in an 'incident' with nobody to blame

Crazy policy but nice and PC

TheRutters

That very much bears out our experience Jad n Rich. Apparently, any kid who is getting beaten sensless cannot push back as 'violence is always unacceptable' and is punished with a suspension.

So by extrapolation, it's wrong to be bullied, it's wrong to try to protect yourself when you are being beaten for the fith time that week and it's wrong to be a victim.

I was going to let this lie on this thread but the call from the school this morning set me off again. The one line, self righteous , head in the sand (or wedged firmly up an orifice) attitude of some senior/head teachers frankly makes me want to help them experience what it's like to be beaten regularly by someone

Amazulu

Always teach your children to fight back - always, no exception. Teach them how to fight back against a larger child - knee in the balls, punch on the nose, fist into the larynx etc. Zero f**king tolerance.

Threaten the school with the police/law/courts/media/MP.

Fight fire with fire.

spartacus

Totally agree. Teach them how to fight properly dirty . . . and also, if it's a four onto one sort of scenario try and get stuck into one of 'the followers' rather than 'the leader' as a leader's only a leader when he's got others willing to following him.

dave99

Would you want your kids talking with an australian accent. Thats the real question you should be asking yourself

Amazulu

Good idea. There is too much bullshit surrounding bullying. It's hard for a child being bullied to fight back and takes a lot of guts, but if they do, even if they end up losing, at least they can hold their head up high with pride.

Many, including my wife, disagree with my stance on this but I don't care. I will always back my son if he stands up for himself in the face of adversity. I've taught him some 'moves' and we have regular practice sessions to keep him up to speed.