SCHOOL BULLYING LEAVES SCARS

A GRADE 8 learner at Belgravia High School was left with lelike scars are a bullying incident and her mother says it could have been prevented if the school had stepped in earlier. 

The meisie's mother, 53, said the bullying started in the first term and snowballed as the months went by. 

Despite her daughter filling out incident reports, one even allegedly completed by a teacher, nothing was done to address the situation.

However, on 13 August, matters came to a head inside the girl's classroom. The learner was allegedly taunted by another girl, who touched her hair, picked at her jacket, and moved her stationery. When she tried to push the girl’s arm away, she was scratched so badly in her face that she bled.

The mother explained: “The teacher and learners were in the class, and only when they saw blood did they separate them,” the mother said.

“When I came to the school, my child broke down. I just held her. Praise the Lord it wasn’t worse, but bullying has its effects mentally.”

The mother was shocked to hear from the principal that they were unaware of the previous reports her daughter had submitted.

She said: “This could’ve been prevented when my child first filled out her incident report.

“The principal tried to justify it by saying not everyone is raised the same or in the same household. I said no, whoa, stop, raising my hand, that’s not what I want to hear. There’s no justification for my child being bullied.”

The incident left the Grade 8 learner with deep scratches in her face that required injections, antibiotics, and a J88 form for injuries. Yet, her mother said the school only contacted her weeks, on 8 September, almost a month of silence, to set up a meeting.

Bronagh Hammond, spokesperson for the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), confirmed that the matter had been investigated at the school level, with a disciplinary hearing scheduled for next week.

She said 69 cases of bullying had already been reported to the WCED’s Safe Schools Centre in the first two terms of the year.