mandymoose

Has anyone had any trouble with English children being bullied at school?

kate white

my daughter is scottish and her first few days were not that good and she was told she should go back to where she came from,but she stood up to the bullies and now has lots of friends and is happy here

Surrey Expat

Pretty much anyone who is different is a target, foreign or not. My eldest daughter had problems at middle school, one boy in particular was a problem, the school did nothing, so she sorted it out. He was not a problem after that.

Often youngsters that come with a foreign accent lose it quickly, I guess trying to fit in.

Steve_P

I don't think it has anything to do with trying to fit in.

I really don't think there is any concious decision by the child.

It just happens.

I was sent to live with my aunts family in Manchester for the summer when I was 13, I was only there two months and in that time I picked up the accent. It also didn't take long to lapse back to scouse when I went home, but for a short time I endured the taunts of my friends.

When it comes to accents and perhaps languages young children are amazingly adaptable.

Surrey Expat

I don't think its a conscious thing, from my experience with my daughter, they want to fit in and be understood, losing the accent is part of fitting in.

Lozza2302

Hi there,

I have 2 girls, 1 was badly bullied in the UK to the point of me having to spout off to the headteacher about going to the board of governers and press etc, nasty story involving 3 quite big lads and my 13 year old. She is now 14 coming up 15, we have been in Alberta for 7 months and we haven't come across any bullying as of yet. I haven't really heard of any at the school the girls are at, so we are very lucky. I don't know if it will stay this way, i hope so...............

MB-Realtor

None of my 4 children encountered any bullying at all during their education here.

blueeyes2002

My son was bullied earlier on this year. I went to his school the morning after he told us and by mid morning the 3 boys involved had been hauled up in front of the principle.... It was stopped there and then and we've had no problems since.

exbrit

We had no problem with bullying - the opposite actually. My kids were the centre of attention, everybody wanted to be their friend. We even had kids trying to copy the accent. Cute!

ann m

We have not had any issues of a negative nature either.

My 10-year old's teacher phoned me up last week to discuss some issues that she was having at school. My daughter had not mentioned anything to me. Turns out she has been the target of some misguided and heavy-handed, and quite unreciprocated (is that a word?) love interest from a fellow classmate - poor guy hadn't got a clue . My daughter was obviously embarrassed by the commotion and attention, and I'm impressed that the teacher picked up on this and made efforts to smooth the issue

So far, so good, on the school front. I'd heard a few bad reports, but have not seen anything myself.

I think the consensus on this forum would be that most teachers have been approachable (yes, of course there are exceptions ). mandymoose, if your children are having issues, speak to school staff early and nip it in the bud.

And in the meantime, with regards to their accents changing, my 10-year old did a school play last week, and could not have sounded more like the Queen if she'd tried. Dead posh, see - like 'er muvver

dingbat

My eldest daughter was bullied mercilessly upon arrival from the UK, and for two years after that. This, with the full knowledge and sometimes encouragement of one particular teacher, whom I eventually got suspended. Her nephews and two girls the nephews knew, were responsible for the daily stuff. The school blamed my daughter for "not fitting in". My daughter was almost suicidal at age nine, when I pulled her. The teacher was reinstated the minute I took my daughter out of the school and still teaches at the same school, so no consequences there. I put my daughter into private school for the rest of elementary, where she had no issues. Bullying happens more than the schools let on to the parent body. If you could see the school records I do.....