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School Bullying
Oct 2020
July 2020
May 2020
Oct 2020
SCHOOL BULLYING – A LEGAL PERSPECTIVE (PAPER THREE)
Soiled clothes, torn shirts, scratches on skin, personal belongings lost. Let us pause there for a moment. I am not going to continue the list of clues that may show that your child had had an unpleasant day at school.
We shall talk about physical evidence. When we were young, I remember, the first thing when adults saw dirty school uniform, they would quickly soak the dirty shirt or pants in soap and water. Or when grandma saw a torn shirt, she might have picked up the sewing kit and begun to do stiches onto the shirt. Some adult at home would probably yell out and say “what had made the clothes so dirty?” And if we didn`t say anything and hid ourselves behind the sofa, that would be the end of it. At the end of the day, no evidence was left, and no one talked about what happened.
Do not wash or throw away the evidence, if you can. Keep them in a box or paper bag. (Has it crossed your mind lately that you shouldn`t throw away the paper box that housed the new pair of sneakers you bought for your precious one, because you want to be part of the campaign to protect the environment.) If the dirty trousers or torn shirt can support the “bullying” incident, just keep the clothes UNTOUCHED until the time you need to prove your case.
Who`s going to look at a soiled uniform? When the school or the teachers ask for proof of a bullying incident, you will have something “solid” to show. Teachers nowadays are trained to be more observant and inquisitive. It is hoped that the school staff will take notice of the torn shirt or dirty trousers before the parents do. And it is hoped that some sort of inquiry has already started by the school, by the time you arrive to pick up your child. Don’t forget your golden opportunity to get the story from your child and to ask around to find out what had gone wrong at school.
I have mentioned about taking notes in my previous papers. The notes would come from what you saw and what you had been told. Hopefully, your child can give an accurate description of the “bullying” incident. If what other people tell you is supporting your child`s version of the story, that would be even better.
What If your helper picks up your child from school, or simply waits at the location where your child is dropped off from the school bus? The evidence of a fight or a scuffle or a damage to property would only come to the parents` attention when the child gets home. Wouldn`t it be proper to instruct your helper(s) to inform you anything unusual she has noticed, before the clothes are washed or thrown away? The magic word is to be OBSERVANT. Don`t miss the opportunity to strengthen your child`s version of the bullying incident. If your child has Autistic Spectrum Disorder and has trouble in describing how he or she was being bullied at school, it is important to keep the physical evidence for as long as you can. The magic word is to be OBSERVANT.
Didn`t we talk about in previous papers that we should talk to the school. Make an appointment with the head teacher or the headmaster. Bring the soiled dress or torn shirt to see them. Make sure you`ve made photos of the evidence, because when the school wants to take it away for investigation, give them photos or let them take photos for record, but don’t let them take away something you need to prove your case.
In my next paper, we will talk about what should be done and said at the meeting with the school representatives, in case you are able to get an appointment to see them. We will also discuss what can be done if no one from the school wants to see you. (Hopefully this won`t happen.)
This article is written by David Lam Tai-Wai who studied Sociology and Psychology before he studied law and went on to become a solicitor in Hong Kong. In his professional career, Mr. Lam has witnessed many victims of crime and wonders how justice can be done to see people are treated fairly in society. After many years of hard work serving the community, in the year 2009, Mr.
Lam was awarded Justice of the Peace for “outstanding contribution to the community” as the then Chief Secretary of Administration had praised Mr. Lam in the letter of appointment. We are grateful that Mr. Lam has promised to contribute to our website a series of articles to help those in need. This is his second article in the series.
July 2020
SCHOOL BULLYING – A LEGAL PERSPECTIVE (PAPER TWO)
You might wonder why I have not given you a definition of school bullying by now. Yes, it is intentional on my part. By the end of my series, you might be able to come up with your own definition of school bullying, after learning the various examples of “bullying”. But, I promise, I will ultimately give you a definition.
In my previous paper, I mentioned about taking notes. Your written record will form a good foundation for making complaints, or for taking legal action if found necessary. The fact that your child has austistic characteristics such as speech difficulty or inhibited behaviour, the obtaining of information relating to the bullying incident or incidents may be difficult. Hence you as parents may have to rely on persons who have witnessed the incident(s). If you are stuck with any progress in getting more people to support your child`s version of the incident, then stop there. Investigation work may not be something you are able to deal with. We will talk more about investigation in upcoming papers.
If you as parents think that you have enough information in hand, and if you feel that you want to make a complaint to the school without delay, then go ahead with the complaint. You have made notes, and you do not worry about forgetting details, so tell the school everything you know, and hopefully the school will conduct an investigation on their own. The school owes you as parents a duty to inform you what they think of the incident and what action they intend to take.
The complaint can be in writing. It is strongly recommended that you should write a letter to the headmaster of the school. Please make a copy of what you wrote.
If writing a letter to the headmaster is scary business for you, then try to make an appointment to talk to him or her, or simply talk to the class teacher first. Whether you choose to talk to the headmaster or class teacher, or both, make sure you write down what you had told them and what they had said to you. There is no rush to come to any conclusion as to the true version of the “bullying” incident, you should wait and see what they say.
If the school does not wish to listen to your complaint, or if you are not satisified with the result of their investigation, or if you are not satisfied with what the school has suggested after their investigation, then there are other things we can do that I will explain in the upcoming papers.
How about complaining the bullying incident to the parent(s) of the suspected “bully”? This maybe a bit tricky because it is reasonably expected that parent(s) of the suspected “bully” will react to your complaint in a way that you won`t feel comfortable with:
Parent A: “My child has told me that your child took away my child`s belongings such as pencils and eraser?”
Parent B: “Why would my child take away your child`s stuff? Are you sure that`s what he told you? Isn`t that he can`t speak properly?”
Think about this scenario for a moment; it is already difficult for someone who has a child possessing austistic sypmtoms, it would be heart-breaking to hear from some parent of a suspected “bully” to have said this to you. If the verbal complaint does not work, then try writing to the parent(s). If we have no idea where they live, where is the letter sent to? We may explore ways in the upcoming articles as to how we are going to get that letter reaches the parent(s) of the “bully”.
In my next paper, we will talk about what other evidence will help strengthen your child`s version of the bullying event. And after that, we will explore ways how we shall try make the school prevent your child from further bullying, so that your child`s therapy will not be impeded any further.
This article is written by David Lam Tai-Wai who studied Sociology and Psychology before he studied law and went on to become a solicitor in Hong Kong. In his professional career, Mr. Lam has witnessed many victims of crime and wonders how justice can be done to see people are treated fairly in society. After many years of hard work serving the community, in the year 2009, Mr.
Lam was awarded Justice of the Peace for “outstanding contribution to the community” as the then Chief Secretary of Administration had praised Mr. Lam in the letter of appointment. We are grateful that Mr. Lam has promised to contribute to our website a series of articles to help those in need. This is his second article in the series.
May 2020
SCHOOL BULLYING – A LEGAL PERSPECTIVE (PAPER ONE)
Why do they bully my child at school who is already suffering from autism? Enough is enough!
Helping your child to improve on his/her development owing to his/her autistic characteristics is already a headache to many parents. The least parents would like to see is that your child is being bullied at school. Do you know that Hong Kong has one of the highest world rating in terms of school children being bullied. Of course, this sort of rating is nothing to be boastful about. The bad news is that austitic children are more prone to be bullied at school. If your austitic child is receiving some sort of therapy, the school bullying will definitely impede the progress and effectiveness of the therapy.
At the present moment, there are no specific laws in Hong Kong that relate to an increasingly important and worrying social issue of school bullying. But there are some laws that can be relied on to pinpoint the evil conduct of school bullying which can bring justice to all. Common assault is one good example of the law that the victim and his/her parents can rely on the police to take legal action against the intruder that is the person who bullied your child.
No one wants to go court. No one wants to go to a police station either. From my professional experience, I can understand your worries, and I can understand your frustration. Don`t worry too much as yet. There are many things that you can do before you even go and find a lawyer to talk to. It may even not be the case that you need to talk to a police officer, or face a judge in a court of law.
It is a natural instinct that parents will protect their children. I was once bitten by a dog because I walked pass her cubs. So when you know that your child has been bullied at school, you as parents should start protecting your child and put the bullying to a stop. But how?
Can you remember what you had eaten for breakfast three days ago? Unless you keep a diary as people used to do a lot in the old days. The protection starts from taking record. In law, taking record of what had happened is in fact part of gathering evidence. But what has gathering of evidence to do with protecting my child who had been bullied?
A child who had been bullied at school once told me that she was being “attacked” by two boys who poured sand onto her face. Was the incident a mere playfulness that has crossed the lines, or was the pouring of sand an intentional act of “hurting” the poor girl who didn’t expect her classmates to treat her that way. If the poor girl was being bullied, and no one should tolerate this behaviour of the intruder. The Education Department in Hong Kong has adopted a “zero tolerance” policy towards school bullying.
Turning back to the incident of the girl being bullied, if a school staff happened to be around and have witnessed the incident, the credibility of the story thereby strengthens. As parents, you should take notes of what you had learned of the unhappy incident, such as the date, place, time, people involved, any witnesses and of course what had happened. Keep these notes as a record, and use them should you decide to take actions against the person who has bullied your child.
Actions that you may take would include making a complaint to the class teacher, the school or even the parents of “the bully”, and hopefully these actions will put a stop to the bullying that has troubled your child and you as parents. I will suggest to you in the upcoming papers more details of gathering evidence and the actions you may take to stop the bullying, before considering legal action.
This article is written by David Lam Tai-Wai who studied Sociology and Psychology before he studied law and went on to become a solicitor in Hong Kong. In his professional career, Mr. Lam has witnessed many victims of crime and wonders how justice can be done to see people are treated fairly in society. After many years of hard work serving the community, in the year 2009, Mr.
Lam was awarded Justice of the Peace for “outstanding contribution to the community” as the then Chief Secretary of Administration had praised Mr. Lam in the letter of appointment. We are grateful that Mr. Lam has promised to contribute to our website a series of articles to help those in need. This is his first article in the series.