Stuart

Mugged at school by bullies

For two and a half years, 13 year old Stuart was constantly bullied at his secondary school.  He was taunted, punched, kicked and had his property stolen, all within the school grounds.

In one of the worst incidents, Stuart was knocked off his bike in the playground after school and had to watch as his bullies stole his bag containing his blazer, house keys and mobile phone. The vicious mugging was the second time in two years that Stuart had had his possessions stolen whilst at school. In his first year at the school, thieves took his blazer, again containing his house keys and mobile phone, from the playground during lunch break. The culprits were never found and Stuart lost his belongings forever. This time, however, Stuart knew his attackers, and told his parents.

Furious, Stuart’s dad, Tom, stormed into the school to demand action. The bag was returned and the bullies were punished. But the bullying did not stop and Stuart continued to be subjected to verbal attacks and physical beatings in the classroom and corridors.

Stuart’s ordeal began almost as soon as he started at his secondary school when two pupils started to bully him. However, when one moved school and the other was expelled, the bullying stopped, only to return on a larger scale. Stuart was verbally abused by a group of his fellow pupils, kicked and punched and subjected to group beatings. On one occasion in a classroom, Stuart fought back but ended up being held by the throat. Only then did some of the pupils, who had been insulting Stuart just minutes before, realise the seriousness of the situation, and leapt to his defence.

Stuart said: “When the bullies were punished, it would always stop for a while, but never for long.  They’d always do it when the teachers weren’t looking. The insults and little attacks would build up over time until I want to lash out. But as soon as I did, it was me that got into trouble and not the bullies who started it. I felt like the teachers didn’t know what was really going on.”

With the bullying continuing on a daily basis, and knowing that retaliating would not help, Stuart did not know what to do. One day, when he could not handle the endless torrents of abuse, Stuart and a friend climbed over the school fence to escape the bullying. When the school informed Stuart’s mum and she rang him, he pretended that he was still in afternoon lessons. His parents found him in an internet café, but the school reprimanded neither him nor the bullies. 

Stuart’s dad, Tom, said: “Some of the teachers couldn’t see what was happening, weren’t willing to act, and didn’t seem to care. No-one should have to suffer the things that Stuart went through and I’m glad that the Head Teacher finally began to implement a couple of new initiatives.”

As part of one of the schemes, the school holds regular concerts in which the pupils can perform.  Stuart played his guitar at the concerts, and not only did his confidence grow, he gained respect from his peers, and the bullying became less frequent. The school also started a peer mentoring scheme, giving the pupils an opportunity to set up a support network where they can help others who may encounter problems such as bullying at school.