Behaviour Problems

Now, we have worked on his behavioural problems for the last few years. As the school would have us believe, our son is disruptive in class and experiences outburst of anger. He also struggles with the work set, often leaving it unfinished. I won't doubt their claims for one second, but the implication has always been that we must be having a problem at home. In case you're wondering, we have a normal home life where our son was, until recently, behaving in a normal way for his age. The only problem we could see was at school. The teachers claimed nothing was happening at school either. When questioned, our son blamed many different causes for his behaviour. We've had the teacher/parent conferences, spoken with the school psychologist, punished bad behaviour, rewarded good behaviour, wrung our hands and prayed.

This term was different. This term I told my son I'd had enough. I sat with him as I had many other times before to get to the bottom of things. This time I asked him a question I hadn't asked before. I asked if he was being bullied. His tears and shaking voice told me all I needed to know. He shared horrific things with me about his treatment by several of the other children. Naturally, I was incensed and informed the school at our next meeting. Action was promised, yet nothing changed. The bullying continued and our son began acting out at home. When confronted about their inaction, the teachers claimed to be unaware of any problem in the playground. They claimed no bullying was going on, at all.

We also attempted to help our son deal with the situation, teaching him how to deal with the bullies. But some problems aren't solved easily. Our decision was based on the continued bullying, the lack of help offered from the school and the way it has affected our son's confidence and well-being. His whole quality of life has suffered because of these children, who have made his life a living hell.