Elijah’s story has prompted a family whose bullied son committed suicide to tell their story:
http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2008/06/14/15041_news.html
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This is a very sad thing and I agree something needs to be done. My 9 yr old daughter is in her 3rd school in yr 3. She was bullied badly in prep, we moved her to another school in yr 1 and just moved her a month ago to her current school as her previous school let her down. She is two years behind and really struggles. She is in mainstram private now. We get extra help for her – speech pathology, tutoring. On one wage it is very hard. She is sad and has low self esteem and has said at times she wishes she could die. I am currently looking for help for her. Money is tight and most help is expensive. We are trying hard to help her. Her peers even at her current school won’t play with her as they are bored with her. She is not bullied phsyically and verbally like before, but exclusion hurts just as much. I wish I had a magic wand to help children accept others.
Hi mary,
why wouldn’t you homeschool your daughter? It seems like an obvious solution to me. children (and adults!!!!) often can’t accept others because they themselves are not accepted and loved unconditionally at home.
Janina,
We thought about home schooling but we think it might be too isolating as she has no siblings. My husband would not agree. She is in year 4 now and at least we know now she has APD(auditory processing disorder)She gets some help at school but not in classroom as it is not funded much by government. Her current teacher does not know how to teach her and has constantly told us to look for aother school which does. Third school no way, what sort of message are we sending children if they constantly move from school to school. Self esteem is very important and teachers need to be trained that all children learn differently . I am going to University in November to do a intergration aide course so I can learn to help my daughter as I do not have the right skills at present.
A child who has a learning disorder needs alot of extra help. Home schooling is good for some but not for my daughter, as she does not like to listen to her parents regarding school work. She is not motivated enough at home even with homework it is a constant battle and effects everyone at home. We still get speech pathology and are still looking at other programs to help $$$. And private school fees, I know there are lots of other parents out there. USA, CANADA, UNITED KINGDOM have more help for APD Australia still has to catch up.