Hello - this is my first posting. I'm not looking for advice really as there's nothing I can do about the situation I'm about to tell you about, I'm just offloading a story that has just happened to my son.
My son Yr 7 decided to enter as a candidate to be elected as a member of the school parliament. Three boys entered and three girls. The pupils would then elect one girl and one boy. I haven't felt it properly handled from the start as from day one all campaign posters were defaced (including obscenities) which should have been obvious to anyone including teachers walking around the school. They were left as is. I told my son it was to be expected really - the drawing of glasses and moustache on his picture but not the obscenities. His posters were defaced the most in his view.
One of the boy candidates who my son went to primary school with and has never got on with took down one of my son's posters and wrote over it not to vote for my son which my son was very angry with. That morning my son was threatened with a beating by two unrelated boys as a rumour had been spread that one of my son's campaign policies was that he was going to try and ban games and PE(a lie). He was then called a retard by another boy he didn't know out of the blue. Very upset he confronted the boy (the candidate that took his poster down) and after an argument ended up kicking him in the chest. I'm not happy with him for that. I was called in and took him home and kept him off the next day as he gets very upset by these things; he's very sensitive. I mentioned to the school then and there that I felt no support had been given to the candidates and that the school should have been talked to about the elections and that foul play wouldn't be looked on lightly - especially as the local MP, Lord Mayor and local press were coming to see the process in action. I was surprised my son wasn't disqualified for what he did which I would have accepted - I was ashamed of what he did but (no excuses) he would never have done anything like this without provocation. He is never the cause of trouble but reacts badly to things that happen to him.
He has had a fantastic term till now. He's a very well behaved boy, very engaged with all of school life and is polite and helpful but gets angry at injustices and does seem to attract nastiness from some pupils (primary Yr 5 and 6 were awful as we'd moved from London and he seemed to be viewed as a target).
The following day a friend called me to say a Facebook page had been set up calling my son a b*h and saying don't vote for him. It was anonymous. However, I have a printout where the candidate who my son has argued with calls the third boy candidate (sorry if this is getting confusing) an a*hole (in full, sorry, awful having to type that) and that my son has made fake promises. At the bottom of this printout is the same http address for the dont vote for my son page where he is called a b**h, which made me believe he had something to do with it. The school looked into it and it seems that the boy that called my son a retard out of the blue (who my son didn't even know the name of) admitted setting it up. He's a friend of the candidate causing the trouble - same friends on Facebook. I called for my son and this boy to be both disqualified from the election which the school didn't want to do. Over the weekend I decided it best for my son not to be part of this election which he has accepted but is upset about.
The election is tomorrow with just the two boys running. I just don't think the school has dealt with this properly. It seems ludicrous to me to allow someone that has cheated - the school's words - to stay in the campaign. This is not about winning - my son didn't expect to as the third boy who has been blameless in all this is very popular - but if they're holding up this process as been a clean campaign how can they continue with it with the local MP, press etc being there? The local MP had spoken to them all at the very beginning about dirty tactics etc and to keep it clean.
I'm left feeling very disillusioned with the school. The proof was indisputable in my view - this candidate called the third boy an a*hole and it was linked with the same http address to the anonymous page calling my son a b**h and yet he's still in the campaign. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed he doesn't win and I think my son will be devastated.
Schools are a law unto themselves. Has anyone else found that? You can't win with them. I just think they whole thing is a farce but we're going to have to swallow it and get on with it.
I forgot to put a subject heading before - sorry first posting so still finding my way around.