Police involvement

[MarmaladeSun]

Hi. I went to pick up my 8 year old son from school on Friday, and found to my horror that his nose was really swollen. A 10 year old boy had attacked him in the playground, unprovoked, and had lifted my sonh off his feet, flipped him upside down, and smashed his face so hard into the playground that his nose swelled up, his nose bled, apparently he vomited (but he can't remember it) and he was giddy. He screamed, but no staff came to his aid. He was only dealt with when his friends led him to a teacher. My daughter asked was I not to be called and they said no. He didn't see a first aider, and despite being excused from PE for being dizzy and sick was left unattended in the library while his class were at PE. At no point was I called to the school to pick him up. After school I demanded answers from the deputy head who tried to gloss over it (the head was off sick). We then spent 3 hours at A&E to ascertain whether he has a broken nose, but we won't know until the swelling has gone down.
This is the 3rd time in a year I have had to complain about bullying at the school. A monthago my daughter was scared to go to school after being intimidated by a group of 10.
I was (and am) so furious that I went to the police station and reported this boy for this assault. He is above the age for criminal responsibility and the police will be interviewing him tomorrow. He has been suspended before, and apparently makes a habit of punching pupils in the face.
The school don't know I have reported it to the police yet, and I am going with hubby to see the head tomorrow.
I can't believe that I send my kids to a place day in day out where they should be safe and I end up spending the evening at casualty. I know the school won't be happy but it's gone too far.

Hi
Police called again yesterday and they want DS to go down to the victim care centre tomorrow to make a statement. It will be recorded on DVD andnot a written statement, and he won't have to appear in court so I'm thankful for that.
The lad concerned wasn't in school today so I'm wondering whether the police have been in touch with his family.
I will let you know tomorrow night how it goes, and thanks everyone for your support.

Hi just read this thread. I went through a similar thing about a month ago.

My DS1 (8yrs) has been bullied by a boy in his class on and off for the past year both in and out of school. At one point the bully kicked ds1 hard in the lower back leaving him in agony all weekend. I had tried speaking to the school and the boys parents but to no avail. Anyway about a month ago things got worse, ds1 had been complaining of little things happening like name calling, pushing past etc. but he was trying to ignore it until one day the school phoned to tell me that ds1 had had a nasty accident and needed picking up. When I got there I discovered the bully had deliberately shoved ds1's head into a brick wall, leaving him with a large bump above his left eye, a deep graze just above the eyebrow and another bump and graze on his cheek. On the way home from the school we saw the bully's dad and he just laughed in our faces so when I got in I called the police. After taking our statement and seeing ds1's face they went to see the boys parents who had the cheek to lie and say that their son had been playing with ds1, his best friend, and he had accidently hurt him. Luckily the school had a statement that the boy had given straight after the attack where he admitted deliberatley hurting ds1 and wanting to cause as much harm as possible, they also had a photo of his injury. Unfortunatley the police couldnt do much due to the boys age, but they have warned hisparents that if there is any more trouble they will be held responsible, and so far it seems to have worked. Ds1 still has a hard bump on his head though.

I was lucky in a way because I had the school on my side, they were glad I had got the police involved but as they had already had dealings with the boys father they were worried for our safety during the school run and arranged for a police presence outside the gates for the first few days. I also kept ds1 off of school for a week too until I was sure he was safe to return.

The police should have more power to deal with these bullies, just because they are under the age of 10 doesnt mean they are not responsible for their actions.

I hope things work out for you and your family.

Thanks, and I'm sorry about your DS. I hope everything is ok for him and you now.
I have to admit, that is a worry of mine. The boy's mother is apparently an alcoholic and has violent tendencies as I mentioned earlier (she attacked another lad at the school) and I saw the father a couple of weeks ago when DS pointed him out. He didn't look the sort to deal with TBH. Very Phil Mitchell. I am just glad that I drive the kids to and from school so they are never out of my sight unless they are in the school grounds. What is it with schools and kids nowadays? Apparently a young girl in DS class told them all she wouldn't ever come back to the school again as it was like her past haunting her (bear in mind she is 8). She had witnessed a girl punching another girl in the face many times. This girl is in foster care, so I can only assume she comes from a violent background and this bullying is reminding her of what she went through. This happened a week ago, the girl hasn't been back to school since (true to her word) and the school insists it hasn't got a bullying problem!

Marmaladesun this is terrible - second thread this evening i have read about completely useless head teachers ignoring blatant bullying going on in their schools - absolutely shocking - I hope it works out for the best for you and your family soon

I also cant help thinking of the bully and his mother. It doesnt sound like the boy has been given a decent start in life - Why cant we have a prevention is better than cure policy in this country - It always seems to be patch things up with a failing plaster

So far, touch wood, things are ok with ds now but I still worry. Before the incident at school he had started walking home on his own but now I meet him half way, for the first few weeks I was meeting him outside his classroom, which he hated but I wasnt going to risk this bully starting again. My son lost a bit of his freedom and yet he had done no wrong.

Why does it seem the victims of bullying seem to get punished more than the bully themselves. My son loves school, he is doing really well, has lots of friends etc,and yet because of this boy my son started to worry about going. And all the time my son was worrying I had to watch this other boy carrying on as normal, he wasnt even punished by his parents, i later discovered his pig of a dad had even rewarded him £5 for hitting my ds.

marmalade sun, what is happening about your daughter? and the p.e thing? have you started looking for another school yet????? i would be if i was you.
pebblemum, that is horrific. what is going on with the world?

Hiya. My son had his statement with the victim care centre today. They were great although DS was a bit panicky when he realised I wouldn't be allowed in with him but I was in the next room watching him on video...bless him. The lad concerned hasn't been in school for 2 days; not sure if it is because of what has happened. You are so right...he hasn't had a decent start in life and I ALMOST let that cloud my judgement but then what would it be saying to my son if I allowed this kid to go unpunished? Plenty of children have a crap home life but they don't break other kids' noses as a result of it. So even though I could have dropped it all out of pity my first concern is for my own. Does that make me sound hard hearted?
They will take the tapes to the investigating officer tomorrowso then it's a waiting game again.I'll let you know what happens.
Alexsmum...changing facilities have been changed back again to seperated. We are in the position of being able to move anywhere we want to go in the next few months as DH is out of the army and we have to move out of quarters, so we could leave this area altogether. I have my own practice, so I could move that or travel in for that,DH is setting up his business which will be national so it doesn't matter where he is...so we asked the kids if they would like to move to a new area...possibly the coast. DS would like to but DD1 was mortified. She wants to stay here, in the school and move to high school with her friends. So we're in a bit of a quandry at the mo.

Hi MS, thanks for updating us. I think you were absolutely right to press charges. It is an utterly bizarre situation that an assault that would be ABH if it were between you and I on a street corner is condoned because it occurs at school.

The police have phoned to say they have the tapes of DS interview, and they will be contacting the school on Monday for this boy's address and they will be 'inviting' him down to the police station for an interview in the week!