I was bullied at school

Bullying at school can affect your confidence, self-esteem and motivation. One of our Lifetracks volunteer journalists, who prefers to be anonymous, explains how her mother's courageous fight to have her home-schooled saved her from bullying.

I changed schools a lot as a kid because of family circumstances and I often ended up being bullied. It affected my work and attendance, but every time my mum complained she was told I was being sensitive. I thought things would improve when I moved to secondary school, because the bullies were going somewhere else. My new school was the best in the area and I was fortunate to get a place there.

But not long after term started, the bullying began again. Some girls started spreading nasty rumours about me during lessons and copying my work. They were very manipulative and always managed not to get noticed. Then some older girls started intimidating me by giving me dirty looks and making snide comments. The last straw came when my so-called friend stole money and other things from me, so I had to end our friendship. I was on my own.

I began to get depressed. At first I didn't mention anything to my mum as I didn't want to worry her, but she could tell there was something wrong as I was normally very happy.

"I became withdrawn and eventually stopped wanting to go to school"

I became withdrawn and eventually stopped wanting to go to school and the school called my mother, saying they were concerned about my attendance. Mum met up with the year head, but she was dismissive about what had happened to me. Yet again, I felt I was being blamed while the bullies' behaviour was being excused.

I wondered what all the fuss was about the school's so called anti-bullying policy, when it didn't seem to be implemented. My tormentors just did as they pleased, until things got so bad I became suicidal. Finally, my mum threatened to remove me from the school and teach me at home, but the school told her they would do everything to stop me.

I was accused by the local authority and the school of being a truant and mum even had to go to court. The local authority didn't seem to take into account that I was being bullied. All they cared about was the number of times I'd missed school. Luckily for me, my mum stood up to them, with the help of her barrister. She said she was prepared to be imprisoned rather than send me back to school. In the end the local authority backed down, allowing me to be home-schooled.

My confidence has improved since leaving school and I have become a very strong person – I feel lucky to have come out of it in one piece. Maybe the bullies did me a favour in the end. My perspective now is that bullies need help too. If their behaviour is nipped in the bud and the cause of it dealt with earlier, perhaps they too can have a better life.

Photo posed by model

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