Students get text bullying message

Schools around the country have obeyed the wishes of grieving mother Deanne Teka and used the death of her daughter to highlight the tragic consequences of text bullying.

Principals who spoke to the Herald said they had used Monday morning assemblies to talk to students about the dangers of bullying and abuse of cellphones.

Their warnings followed the death of Putaruru College schoolgirl Alex Teka, 12, who had been the victim of abusive emails and text messages. She was found dead six weeks ago, the day before she was due to start the school year.

Principals spoken to yesterday said the problem was often outside of school and something that the community and parents had to help deal with.

Graham Young, head of the Secondary Principals Association, said schools were best placed to decide on cellphone use in their own communities.

"Schools don't solely own the problem," he said.

"Reality TV is all about voting the weakest person off the programme. Hello - what's that about bullying? The whole of society needs to wake up to it and support the good programmes in schools to deal with it."

Massey High principal Bruce Ritchie said the school would not hesitate to contact police if necessary.

"We have a cellphone no-show policy. We don't ever want to see them in school and if they are seen there are consequences."

Most schools do not ban cellphones, but insist they are switched off during class time.

However, some take a harder line. At Hamilton's Fraser High School, principal Martin Elliott said cellphones seen by teachers were confiscated and could be picked up only by a parent at the end of the week. The policy came in last year after problems with text bullying and "inappropriate pictures".

"You will never stop bullying. It used to be in the toilets or behind the bike sheds. Now it's on a text message or computer. What we've got to do is control the use and also empower kids not to be victims."

In Putaruru yesterday, staff and students had been instructed to not speak to the media, after the Herald told the story of Alex's death.

The school was in a "fragile" state, principal Karen Douglas said.

Some students abused the media and threw stones. But others spoken to in the town said it was important that bullying problems were being aired.

A Putaruru College parent told how his son had a knife held to his throat at the start of 2005 and refused to go to school for the rest of the year.

Dean Houston said the 16-year-old did not fit in with a certain crowd, because of the way he dressed and acted.

Six months after the knife incident, the school rang to ask where the boy was and said that court action for truancy would be taken against his family if the boy did not return.

As far as he knew, no police action had been taken over the knife incident. "The school informed me that my son had to change so that he wasn't picked on. Why should my son have to change? The only kids that need changing are the bullies."

His son had returned to the school this year to pursue level one NCEA qualifications.

"The teachers are paying more attention to him, he's keen to learn, and he's got stronger."

Mrs Douglas said she could not comment on the case as she was not at the school last year, but she was confident management had dealt with the problem.


Cry for help

* Children as young as seven call for help on the What's Up helpline.
* Bullying second-most pressing issue after relationships with friends.
* Most bullying occurs in late primary or intermediate school.
* Boys are more likely to call the helpline over bullying than girls.
* Likely targets are children with low self-esteem.
- Source: the Kids Help Foundation Trust