Mum to sell home over bully terror

Published on Tuesday 27 July 2010 14:58

A MOTHER has told how she is being forced to sell her house and move away after being terrorised by school bullies.

The woman, who does not want to be identified, said her 14-year-old son had been bullied constantly at Currie Community High School for three years, apparently because of his football talent.

She said the situation had got so bad before the summer holidays that he had to miss the last three weeks of term and study at home instead.

She claimed their home had also been targeted, leaving her with no option but to remove him from the school, sell up and move away. She said the school has not taken the bullying seriously enough, despite her having complained to the headteacher, the education department and even the police.

She said: "The last six months got so bad that I went home from work one day because I had forgotten something and he was sitting in his bedroom and broke down, saying he couldn't take it any more.

"He is a confident boy but I can see the change in personality and it's heartbreaking.

"Bullying is rife at the school but it seems to get passed over.

"I pulled him out of school in June but it's very unfair. My boy is studying at home and this other boy is in the classroom like nothing's happened."

The single mother said the bullying started in his first year at the school when he was targeted for scoring goals in a football match against his tormentors.

She said: "He doesn't do any sports any more or go to any clubs. He's really withdrawn.

"He has spent most of July in the house and has come off Facebook because of the dog's abuse he got on that.

"I'm trying to get him into another school until I sell my house but he might have to go back to Currie after the summer. I will pull him out of classes if he is getting abuse from these boys."

Over the years the bullies have punched their victim on several occasions, stolen his books, threatened he would "get a kicking" and targeted the family home.

The mother said: "I've had sandwiches thrown at my house, stones and when we had snow I had so much put through my front door that the carpet lifted right up. The final straw was when they started phoning the house threatening my son."

A city council spokeswoman said: "We can't go into individual cases but we take bullying in all forms very seriously.

"All our schools have an anti-bullying policy to make sure that pupils get the support they need. We are currently in the process of working on a revised policy, which will be in place early autumn."