Parents at Alpine Primary School are at their wit’s end over weekly reports from their children’s Grade 2 teacher detailing how a class bully is running amok in class choking, punching and even throwing chairs at his classmates.
Disgruntled parents want the 8-year-old removed from the school before a child is seriously injured.
They have questioned why writing messages about how their children have been injured without action rectifies the situation.
Disturbing accounts of the child’s behaviour include choking a classmate 10 times in one day, throwing a pair of scissors at another, hurling verbal abuse, threatening classmates and leaving teachers in tears.
Angry parents gathered at the school demanding answers from the principal, who they said appeared indifferent to the situation.
Parents said they were informed that the child in question had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Parent Cherish Ford said she had complained about the child’s behaviour since 2020. “At first, I didn’t take it seriously because he just pulled my daughter’s hair and that was something I felt could have been sorted out in the class.
“Then at the end of last year, the hitting, and chasing started. He threw scissors at her and if she didn’t duck it would’ve hit her head. This year he sat on top of her and choked her.”
Ford said she had approached the school after every incident but was told only to leave her phone number.
“I told the principal that this isn’t bullying anymore, it’s assault and I am still being lenient to give them space to sort this out before laying a criminal case,” she said.
Parent Colleen Vollenhoven said her daughter comes home from school daily with new reports of bullying from the boy. “Everyday it’s something new, but there isn’t a day that she doesn’t come home and complain.
“This boy cut off her pompom with a scissor, and pulled her hair. There was also an incident where he kicked her in her private part. This boy is abusing my child. He is the reason she doesn’t even want to go to school, which is very unfair,” she said.
Vollenhoven said the class teacher constantly kept parents updated with incidents that involved their children in a message book.
A message, seen by Weekend Argus from the teacher reads: “He punched him off his chair and hit him on the head several times ... I noticed he chooses to bully ... because of his positive nature. “(The bully) choked (classmate) 10 times today, he wrapped his arms around his neck and pulls (sic) him back.”
The parents said they learnt the boy’s mother had been allowed to sit in class for a few hours to observe his behaviour.
The group said they had been called to sit with a panel of authorities from the school and the Western Cape Education Department, but have yet to receive an answer on the way forward.
Parent Shireen Davids, 46, said they were informed during the meeting that the boy had ADHD.
“I also have a child with ADHD, so this can’t be used as an excuse. The parents of the boy, the department and doctors have a responsibility to not only keep him, but our children safe as well. My child was thrown in the face with a chair, I also want answers and solutions.
“They can’t just say they are working on an intervention but nothing changes. They can’t say they will offer counselling to our children but they never received one counselling session.”
Davids said: “We fear for our kids’ lives as much as we are worried about him’ we are also fed-up. Get this child proper help or place him in a school where he can be helped.”
WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said their district office had been informed the parents insisted the pupil be removed from the school.
“The matter is being addressed with a WCED multifunctional team with support plans in place for the other learners and the educator.
“Our priority is to ensure the safety of the learners and educators affected by the conduct of the alleged perpetrator and to also address his individual needs,” she said.
Researcher at Equal Education Stacey Jacobs said the detrimental impact of bullying on the physical, emotional and mental well-being of learners, as well as on absenteeism and learners’ performance, were well documented. “The negative effects are not only felt by the learners who are directly affected, but also by those learners or members of the school community who witness these acts and who may feel powerless or fearful in the unsafe environment,” she said.
Jacobs called for school-based or classroom interventions to be supplemented with accessible professional psychosocial support services for affected learners