The parents of a bullied primary school pupil are deeply concerned about their child’s well-being and have implored the Northern Cape Department of Education to transfer her to a different school.
THE PARENTS of a bullied primary school pupil are deeply concerned about their daughter’s well-being and have implored the Northern Cape Department of Education to transfer her to a different school.
The situation has arisen from what the parents have described as “intense” bullying at her current school. As a consequence, she was hospitalised and received therapy sessions with a psychologist during the first term of school.
The child began experiencing panic attacks and blackouts at school after apparently becoming the subject of severe ridicule due to her “condition”.
This was after an incident where she reportedly suffered an accidental blow to her head with a bottle by another pupil during school hours, resulting in a temporary loss of consciousness.
According to the mother, the child was “failed by the school” as she was sent to the bathroom alone to wash her face after regaining consciousness on the day of the incident.
She said her daughter was then discovered unconscious on the bathroom floor by a teacher who had gone to check on why she was taking so long.
“It was then that we received a call from the school and our child was escorted to meet us. We noticed that she seemed confused and decided to take her to the doctor for a check-up instead of sending her home to ‘sleep it off’ as initially instructed.
“After examining her, the doctor said she had suffered memory loss and referred her to the hospital, where she was admitted for several days.
“That was only the beginning of her frequent trips in and out of hospital,” said the concerned mother.
“After being discharged from the hospital, she started suffering anxiety attacks at school and no longer enjoyed school as she used to.”
The mother said they informed the school about her daughter’s condition and provided a medical report as proof.
“As her situation continued to grow more intense, she opened up to us about the bullying that she was experiencing after the accident.
“She told us that one of the teachers had made a joke in front of the other learners that her parents were trying to sue the school for millions for her ‘small accident’.
“Another teacher made the same joke, which resulted in the learners starting to tease her and making her school environment a nightmare.”
The parents said they had insisted that the school call in the parents of the pupil who had hit their daughter with the bottle.
“We were disappointed to learn that the parents of the other learner did not know anything about the situation. They learned about the incident in front of us and the mother even cried. She offered to contribute R1,500 to assist and then to engage us on further assistance.”
The parents then approached the Northern Cape Department of Education to intervene and assist in transferring their daughter to another school. They explained that the school environment had become “too toxic” for the child.
The Northern Cape Department of Education confirmed that it was aware of the incident.
Department spokesperson Geoffrey van der Merwe said that the district office was informed on February 27 about an incident involving two pupils.
“The parents of both learners were called in following the incident. It was resolved that the parents of the learner who caused the incident offer an amount of R1,500 towards the medical bill,” said Van der Merwe.
“At this stage, there is a cordial relationship between the school and the parents of the injured learner.
“A request must be made to the district office if the parents feel that it’s necessary for the child to be transferred to another school.”
