The Daily Post has launched a campaign to take a stand against bullying in our city. Stop The Hate has been running over the past few weeks and has been looking at bullying, bullies and their victims. Today, a Rotorua mum shares her experience.
No child should have to put up with being made to feel inadequate.Rotorua mother When a Rotorua mother found out her children were being bullied on the school bus, her heart broke.
Only recently, the woman, who didn't want to be identified, found out that her son, 5, and daughter, 6, were getting bullied while travelling to and from school on the bus.
She wanted to share her experience not as a bully or a victim, but as a mum who had never been bullied at school and didn't know how to deal with the situation.
"My kids would regularly get off the bus crying, because other kids picked on them.
"As a parent, your first instinct is to protect your kids from anything and anyone that threatens to hurt them be it physically or emotionally. It broke my heart that anyone would want to bully my kids.
"I'll admit that I really wanted to get on the bus myself and growl whoever was bullying my kids every time it happened.
"I never did though as I did not know how to deal with the situation," the woman said.
Instead, she wrote a letter to the school to complain about the bullying and revealed the extent to which her kids were bullied.
The mum told the school in her letter that her children would often cry after being teased, tormented and even having their belongings taken from them by others on the bus.
"They have frequently gotten off the bus after school crying. It could be just one or the other crying. A couple of times both of them have gotten off the bus crying," the mum said.
She highlighted one particular incident when her son, who had lost both his front teeth, was being hassled for not having his teeth.
"His sister told me 'those kids were being mean and saying where's your teeth to him and made him cry mum'.
"She was very upset about kids making fun of her brother."
The mother told the school she was never bullied through any of her school years and had no precedent of how to deal with the bullying. As much as she wanted to get on to the bus and scold the bullies she knew it wouldn't help the situation.
She said her children weren't angels but she had had enough of the bullying, which they didn't deserve. "They do not deserve to be treated with disrespect and they know not to treat anyone else with disrespect. No child should have to put up with being made to feel inadequate."
She told the school her son had a soft heart and nature and his feelings were hurt easily and her daughter had come out of her shell since attending the school. She was scared her kids' spirits would be broken if the bullying didn't stop.
Days after her letter to the school detailing the bullying she received a phone call from one of the teachers at the school.
"The teacher I spoke to was very helpful and reassured me that all the kids that travelled on buses would be talked to about bullying as the school has zero tolerance for bullying.
She said since receiving the call her children had not complained about being bullied while on the bus and she hoped it stayed that way.
"No child deserves to be bullied."
If you would like to share a story about bullying, email kristin.macfarlane@dailypost.co.nz or contact her on (07) 348 6199, ext: 57072.