It wasn't just us, say pupils accused of bullying

Students accused of text-bullying Alex Teka, 12, whose death was described in the Weekend Herald, deny their actions caused the tragedy.

One Putaruru College student who admitted sending abusive texts to the girl told the Herald on Sunday: "People at school are calling us murderers. It wasn't just us, there were heaps of things."

Alex's father Bill Teka yesterday expressed the hope that the children never forget the pain they have caused.

"I hope they look over their shoulder for the rest of their lives."

Mr Teka, a Tokoroa truck driver, said he wanted one day to meet the children alleged to have hounded his daughter, but "I am waiting for the dust to settle before I feel calm enough".

"I need to confront them and their parents and tell them what they have put us through."

Alex was found dead in the back garden of her Putaruru home six weeks ago. Her death was not suspicious and has been referred to the coroner.

The publicity has brought some things "back up to the surface" for Mr Teka, but "if all this can help save one more kid's life, then that's great".

Putaruru College principal Karen Douglas said last night that there had been "disciplinary consequences" for the students alleged to have hounded Alex, but all were still attending the school.

She would not discuss what form the discipline took, and also defended the school against claims there had been no general assembly at the school after Alex's death.

Education guidelines stipulated that the matter be dealt with through counselling in a "small-group manner".

"We were dealing with a [death] issue, not a bullying issue," Mrs Douglas said.

Education Minister Steve Maharey said yesterday he was asking officials to prepare a report on text bullying.

He did not believe text bullying was a widespread problem in schools.

"There's obviously a general concern about issues to do with behaviour in schools, but texting as a form of bullying hasn't come up in any way which has drawn my attention to it specifically."

Mr Maharey said he wanted to know "what we know about text bullying around the country at the present time and what different schools are doing around the use of mobile phones".

Some schools already banned cellphones, but he said the Government was unlikely to promote an overall ban.

Although some school bullying was carried out by text message, most of it appeared to happen outside school hours, which could complicate any thoughts of a ban. 

Former Waikato University student Carmen O'Meeghan, who has just completed a master's thesis into the effects of female students' bullying tactics, said female bullying was generally psychological, compared with male students, who tended to use physical force.

She said some of the girls in her research had said they would much rather have received a punch than psychological bullying.

- STAFF REPORTERS