School crime scene
For bullies, age limits don’t apply
A GOLD Coast dad wants laws on the street to be enforced in school playgrounds to stop the bullying epidemic.
Helensvale father Ken Chancellor says he has been forced to homeschool his children after years of bullying, and is adamant they will not return until minimum punishments are introduced on thugs.
“We see one set of rules for bullies inside of school and another for those in the real world,” he said. “If someone is punched in the street they go to jail, but in school kids are given a holiday or a talk. That doesn’t deter them.”
Mr Chancellor’s sons – Daniel, 16, and Thomas, 12 – have both endured physical and verbal abuse and are now educated through the Cairns School of Distance Education.
Daniel has been homeschooled for the past two years, while Thomas left Upper Coomera State School in June due to ongoing abuse.
“This is not just about a school, or one teacher, this is a national problem in education,” Mr Chancellor said.
After suffering months of harassment by an older student, Thomas said he eventually broke down and told his parents, who moved him.
Daniel, now working to complete a degree alongside his high school graduate certificate, is pleased with the decision and has gone on to become a representative of the Queensland Youth Parliament.
The 16-year-old was present at the State Government’s Anti Cyber Bullying Taskforce when it visited the Gold Coast earlier this year.
“For me it was mostly just words and threats to bash me but when I was put in a chokehold I had to tell them,” Daniel said.
Education Minister Grace Grace said principals already had the tools to deal with bullying in schools.
“I support principals in taking a hard line on this insidious community-wide issue, which is not isolated to within school grounds,” she said.
“Principals have a number of strategies and powers at their disposal to discipline students who are found to be engaging in unacceptable behaviour.”
Taskforce representative and President of the Teachers Union Kevin Bates said a case-by-case approach to discipline was the best option.
“A one-size approach isn’t the way schools work,” he said. “Each individual case needs to be judged and schools need to look at all the facts.”
Mr Bates said homeschooling due to bullying was not the usual course of action for bullying victims.