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Four Corners on ‘bullying’

Reporter Quentin McDermott looks at bullying in schools and the growing problem of cyber bullying.

bulliesThis Monday night Four Corners tackles “The Bullies’ Playground”.

It’s a subject that is visited by other current affairs shows, talkback radio and print media but reporter Quentin McDermott is bound to have some thoughtful input into a growing concern.

Children across Australia talk about the alarming impact of bullying on their lives. Despite major efforts from governments, schools and teachers, bullying remains an intractable problem made worse by modern technology.

Once it was fists, rocks and personal abuse – now bullies have the net, mobile phones and Facebook as their playgrounds for brutality. This isn’t just concerning – it can be lethal, as reporter Quentin McDermott reveals.

The show talks to a young boy, targeted by bullies in his school, who suffered permanent damage to his eye when he tried to protect himself, only to be the one disciplined by his teachers.

The programme also hears the story of a boy with Tourette and Asperger’s Syndrome who’s victimised simply because he is different. When his plight is mis-handled at a school he writes a letter to a local newspaper describing what he’s been through. His letter sends shockwaves through his local community and results in scores of children admitting that they too have been bullied.

Cyberspace is quickly becoming the medium of choice for bullies. Mobile phones are weapons in a war that doesn’t end at the school gate but continues at home day and night.

In one case a young girl tells how she received death threats by email and then discovered that neither mediation nor cyber-experts could resolve her problem.

This relentless and brutal nature of the new technology is highlighted in the story of a seventeen year old schoolboy from a happy family who gets attacked in cyberspace. It seemed he had everything to live for but earlier this year, after being subjected to a campaign of cyber-bullying that included threats of violence, he took his own life.

Four Corners learns that one of the great frustrations involves the terrible realisation that the enemy cannot be seen.

Reporter Quentin McDermott also talks to his friends and the young man who admits he bullied the teenager. How did an episode of teenage rivalry get out of hand and could anything have stopped the terrible chain of events that unfolded?

It airs 8.30pm Monday 6 April on ABC 1. Repeated at 11.35pm Tuesday 7 April.

www.abc.net.au/4corners

5 Responses

  1. Just one lastthing I would like to add to my previous comment if I may, I have observed a pattern immerge at my children’s primary school which I find very worrying. It has been made very clear to all parents that the school is committed to rehabilitating, not punishing the bully. In fact, hearing the word ‘punish’ makes the teachers queasy and its usage is avoided like the plague. Unsurprisingly, this kind of feeble mind-set by those in authority does nothing to stop the bullying but does everything to lower our children’s expectations.

  2. Watching this program made my stomach churn. I have two children in primary school who have suffered (along with others) from bullying by the same child for the last three years. It is clear to me that the teachers and principal are more concerned about the bully’s welfare than that of the children being bullied who are the real victims. Every time there’s an incident, there are feverish discussions and action plans put into action which sound really good but ultimately do nothing to stop the bullying. The children have no confidence in their teachers and often accept the bully’s taunts to avoid worse consequences should they report an incident. I am a very angry father because I struggle to comprehend why bullies are continually being sheltered by teachers who should be protecting the blameless children they taunt and hurt – these children are the real victims are they not?

  3. When a boy was being bullied at school in 1972 , the school teacher said “He is not a bully, he possesses leadership qualities”
    Elizabeth Kennedy

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