Melissa Thomas ‘IT BREAKS MY HEART’
Melissa Thomas is best known for her role in iconic Aussie soap E Street, and performing opposite the late Heath Ledger in Sweat, but fast forward 20 years and the mother-of-four has turned anti-bullying campaigner after a “violent” ordeal her daughter endured at school.
Melissa, 44, from Sydney says her little girl Charlotte, nine, suffers bullying every day and the situation is breaking her heart. “She gets called names like nerd, loser, ugly – and the most recent incident is because of her looks,” Melissa reveals, explaining Charlotte’s big blue eyes and rosy cheeks were making her a target for jealous schoolmates.
Recently, Charlotte was accused of wearing makeup to school by bullies who “dragged her into the girls bathroom, dunked her head in the sink and scrubbed it red raw with toilet paper”.
“It’s violent behaviour,” Melissa tells. “A lot of mums
were saying what happened to Charlotte was assault and I should be calling the police.”
Melissa, also mum to Amelia, 15, Benjamin, 13, and Jack, five, was reluctant to do so for Charlotte’s sake. She spoke to the school principal, who she says was “amazing”.
Even so, she finds the level of bullying “frightening”. “There are days Charlotte sits on the end of her bed and says, ‘I just can’t do it today, Mum.’ That to me says ‘I’m getting bullied and I just don’t feel like I have the strength to stand up to them today.’ It breaks my heart.”