GROOVY – a hug from Groovy is the best hug of all. Now I really feel better. XX00XX

CRICKET – I am all for zero tolerance. In Australia we seem to turn a blind eye to bad behaviour a little too readily for my liking. Thank you for your concern. You are so kind!

No words of wisdom here – I remember handing my glasses to a friend so they wouldn’t get broken when my bully wanted to punch me out.

(((((((((Selma))))))))

CRAFTY GREEN – are there a few storms brewing in your beautiful part of the world? I’m sure things’ll work out. I really appreciate your kind comment.

GERALDINE – how wise you are. Time outs are so important. I feel I really need one right now. There comes a point where you think :’ I just can’t take anymore.’ But never fear, I’ll be OK. I am resilient (and slightly mad). LOL.

LETITBLURT – I am so sorry you went through that. The memory of it stays with us, doesn’t it? Awww, I feel for you. Picking on people is so unnecessary. Martial arts is definitely the way to go. And martial arts guys are hot. Look at Keanu Reeves in ‘The Matrix.’ Oh, yeah!

CHRIS – as always you crack me up. I can just picture you wearing a Motorhead T-shirt. I had a Black Sabbath one which I alternated with Deep Purple. Aaaah, those were the days…..

PAISLEY – you’re right. There’s nothing character-building about a fist in the face. I will definitely let you know how it turns out.

BEC – oh, I am sorry you were bullied. I would have loved having you as a school friend. We would have had such laughs together and we would have thrown Molotov cocktails at the bullies. Your support means so much. XXX000XX

EPIPHANY – you know, with everyone’s help here today I can feel Plan D formulating. How kind and insightful you all are. I feel quite emotional right now. Thank you, Epi, you have made me feel so much better!

MELEAH – it is overwhelming when things like this happen. Initially I tend to overreact but then I think :’Now what am I actually going to do about it.’ The answer will come. Hugs to you, my friend.

DAOINE – there is another school we can go to. And by the way, I HEART Melbourne. One of my Top 5 favourite cities in the world !

TRAVELRAT – so the karmic wheel does turn, eh? What a great story. I would have loved to have seen the look on his face!

JASON – so nice to hear from you. Getting the police involved is definitely a consideration. Nick is going to start weight training with his Dad towards the end of the year as well as a bit of martial arts but it’s terrible for me to think that he must do that in order to survive at school. High school is scary.

LINDA – oh, it’s definitely a crappy situation. Raising kids is hard these days, isn’t it? Maybe calling the cops is the way to go.

WENDY – I really appreciate you taking the time to share your story. That is absolutely harrowing. I feel for you and your son so much. I am so glad he has recovered but angry he had to go through that in the first place. How awful. Oh, the poor little guy, he was only 7 years old! Thanks for taking the time to comment and I am sorry for what you and your son went through.

INGRID – I’m sorry Paula has had to go through that. It always perplexes me when schools appear to give the bullies more consideration than they give the victims. What is up with that? I hope Paula manages to have nothing more to do with that boy.

ANTHONY – agree with you 100%. It’s definitely an excuse for sloppy teaching methods. As I said, I taught for 15 years and I was on bullying like a ton of bricks. My first consideration, above even academic skills, was that the kids felt safe in the school. It is not difficult to implement strategies to deal with bullying but most teachers feel it is too much work. Very frustrating. Congrats on getting those 7 kids through the English school system. You really are my hero (in more ways than one).

This is not the 1950s, and reporting such happenings is not sneaking. You have the right to live where you like, and Nick has the right to go to school where he likes without hassle from such pond-life.

Now, I don’t know the rules in Australia (I should; two of my sisters-in-law are teachers in Oz) but here, the staff of the school have a duty to ensure this sort of thing doesn’t happen … and, if they don’t, the police will. And, they call it ‘assault’, not ‘bullying’.

Now, I was never a ‘victim’ myself, but I did once have to deal with someone who was picking on my brother and his friends. Imagine my surprise a few years later when he turned up in the Air Force … and I had considerably more stuff on my arms than he had! It was so tempting to ensure that he spent the rest of his career cleaning out the ablutions, but I didn’t … and couldn’t, anyway.

But, the look of sheer dread on his face was revenge enough!

I agree with you (and other commenters) that a “difficult background” is no excuse for unacceptable behaviour. There was a fantastic article in The Age Good Weekend magazine recently about a teacher who turned an entire school of severely disadvantaged teens around. If one teacher can do that for dozens of children, then many teachers can surely keep tabs on the needs and behaviour of the few children they are directly responsible for day-to-day.

Can you find a different school? Or do you have to move districts? I really think Nick (and you) could do without the extra stress of this hanging over him.