GENEVIEVE SERRA
An anti-bullying campaign has noted an increase in depression and bullying among school children since the pandemic began.
October is anti-bullying awareness month worldwide.
The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) said they continued with anti-bullying campaigns and programmes.
Two heartbroken dads shared how their children were impacted by bullying. One dad took to social media, claiming his 14-year-old son had committed suicide due to depression and bullying, while another father has opened a case against his son’s school, claiming they were not informed of the outcome of sessions with a psychologist, and discovered he had already written suicide notes.
The Weekend Argus continues to protect the rights and identities of children and will not disclose any information which could negatively affect them.
Weekend Argus approached the family of the boy who had died, but they declined an interview while the father continued his awareness campaign on Facebook.
The child attended an independent Muslim school.
Sheik Riad Fataar of the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) said due to the sensitivity of the case they could not comment and that the matter was being dealt with internally.
The father of a 16-year-old boy has opened a case against his son’s school, which he claims failed to disclose vital information shared with a counsellor after they found suicide notes on his cellphone.
The child had been involved in an altercation due to apparent bullying, and later received counselling sessions.
The father said he was told during a meeting that the school could not disclose the outcome of his son’s sessions.
“We do not have any behavioural issues with my son; I am quite close with my son, and this thing came as quite a big surprise to us,” he said.
“My eldest son went through his [brother’s] cellphone and we found his private diary, where he wrote a suicide note.
“My son was being bullied at school and got involved in an altercation earlier this year. As per the recommendation from his school, he was attending counselling sessions. He had opened up to one of his tutors and spoke about his mental state, as well as self-harming. In the meeting I posed a question to the tutor he [my son] mentioned in his note, and I was told they don't need to divulge anything to the parent about the pupil if they don’t think it is necessary. I was totally livid about this comment and had an emotional breakdown. When would it be necessary to inform the parent about their child?
“Maybe they were waiting for him to fall so deep down the rabbit hole that we cannot pull him out. Nevertheless, God is great and God gave us an opportunity to save our child before it was too late.”
Police spokesperson, Colonel Andre Traut confirmed a case had been opened.
Chauncey Davids, who had been bullied at school in 2012, died in 2014 when an experiment with chemicals went wrong.
In his memory, his mother, Beverly Davids, founded the non-profit organisation Chauncey’s Epic Anti-Bullying Campaign.
Davids said they had recently seen an increase in bullying, and called for more awareness.
“Over the past seven years, as founder of Chauncey's Epic Anti-Bullying Campaign NPO, I've seen the growth of bullying cases around this time of year, and October is anti-bullying awareness month worldwide.
“For the past two years, Covid-19 has added to the stress our children have been enduring. Our schools and teachers are under pressure as far as pass rate is concerned, and in turn that stress is projected on the learners. We are in a pandemic and no one has control over the current situation.”
She said she finds sharing her son’s experience with bullying showed the seriousness of the issue.
“To see children break down in tears while I speak, shows me that young eyes are opened against bullying and that those kids will in their own capacity save a victim from bullying.”
Millicent Merton of the Western Cape Education Department said they were not in a position to comment on the 16-year-old’s case, and said there were on-going programmes to help with bullying.
Weekend Argus