The Aurora School Bullying Project
Related pages:
Supporting documents:
From the local press:
Director of Education and LGBT youth leader
Stonewall case studies:
See Also:
Items from the Croydon Guardian that affected public concern on school bullying and on the bullying of LGBT students in particular
20th November 2006
From a letter to the Croydon Guardian
"After two and a half years of verbal and some physical bullying my 15 year old son refused to go to school. He moved to another school where he did very well for a few months until past events took their toll and he had a 'breakdown'. He was unable to leave the house for 6 months and was prescribed prozac after he threatened suicide. He has been unable to attend school for almost a year and consequently has not been able to take his standard grade exams. He suffers from Body Dysmorphic Disorder along with several other associated disorders now. All of these can be triggered by bullying and the stress and anxieties that it can cause.
"My son was a bright intelligent young man who is musically talented and a 1st Dan Karate champion. All of this has stopped for him and he has become addicted to on line role playing fantasy games. I would not wish what our family has been through on anyone.
"Initially we approached the parents of the boys involved, but this made matters worse for my son. After this he refused to let the school 'deal' with the bullies as he tried to 'ride it out'. No-one knew the extent of his inner turmoil until it was too late. As parents we were not confident in the school to deal effectively with the bullies as we knew of several similar bullying cases to ours, with students shifting schools or finishing their studies early rather than return for more of the same. I wish we had made a stand as things could not have been worse than they are now, however we felt our son's mental health was at risk and decided we really had no alternative but to place our son elsewhere.
"As a society we should be looking at educating our future generations as young as nursery school, in a caring and nurturing ethos.
"We feel our son's life is on hold, we have been told that the disorders he suffers from now may be with him for the rest of his life. He is getting help in order that he learns to manage the way he feels. We feel this is a high price to pay for the 'fun' the bullies had tormenting this vulnerable boy."