An 8 year old Queensland boy was rushed to hospital in March this year, suffering serious injuries, after fleeing a bully from his school. His mother claimed he had been repeatedly harassed and his school did nothing to stop the abuse.
Blair Retallick lay fighting for his life in a Townsville hospital, as authorities, his parents and the school discussed who was to blame.
Blair’s mother claimed he had been the victim of bullying for some time. He had been kicked, spat on, punched, and verbally abused.
Despite Patricia Retallick claiming she had made many complaints to the school, nothing was done. Blair was left with a fractured skull, a bruised brain and lacerated liver.
Parents send their children to school with the best intentions. They want to feel confident about their child’s well being,care, and safety. These factors are just as important as their child’s education.
Blair’s story is becoming more and more common in Australian schools. Incidents that were unique to countries like the USA are now happening more frequently. There was recently a shooting death in another Australian school, which also shocked the nation.
There has been continuing debate as to why school children are becoming increasingly violent. But, while we sit here and blame the media and computer games, bullying continues and our children are not being protected.
Installing video cameras in schools won’t prevent all bullying cases, but it may contribute to a much needed decline. Cameras in schools would help to deter offenders or bring them to justice.
In so many cases, victims are too fearful to report their attacks, for fear of increasing the anger of their attacker. Parents are left helpless with lack of solid evidence when reporting incidents. Too often it becomes a case of ‘he said/she said’ and matters are not properly dealt with.
Cameras may initially be seen as a breach of privacy, but they have become commonplace in our lives now. They are protecting people working in banks, merchandise in stores and vehicles in car parks. Surely the safety of our children is now more important?
http://www.news.com.au/national/blair-retallick-8-hit-by-car-in-townsville-while-fleeing-bully/story-e6frfkvr-122583633142
Very nicely worded and well written, a compelling argument for them, well done.
ReplyDeleteSuch a great blog T!! Absolutely loved it!!
ReplyDeleteVery well written. It's sad that it's come to this - cameras being installed everywhere to try to keep the insane members of our population in line. Or to catch them when they stuff up.
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