Video transcript
My first school report in Owton Manor Infants School, Hartlepool, in mid 1966, summed
up the way I was. It said I, "much preferred play to work", and that was spot on. I loved
the sand pit most of all. I was never happier than at infants. You could say I was the life
and soul of the party but all that changed as I progressed to juniors then seniors where
things went rapidly down hill.
I think it was my second year in juniors where I appeared to wake up and realised the
cruelty of other children to me, especially one boy who made my life hell as he bullied
me from then, going into seniors, where things got far worse physically and mentally.
My first report in secondary school said I was, "a quiet boy in class who seemed popular
with the rest of the class". How wrong could that be? It is true I was quiet but it is far
from true that I was popular. This is the period when I began to feel so alone, an
outsider and this is when the bullying, mental and physical took hold and really affected
my confidence. But still in my report I said I was, "coming on fine". What a lie.
Things got so bad that I often skipped school. I didn't feel as if I had anyone to talk to,
especially the teachers, who seemed to be oblivious to my pain as I sat at the back of
the class and would be punched and mentally abused by my tormentor.
Still the reports came and went with not a word about what I was actually going through
until my final report, before I left secondary school stated, that the teacher finally was
beginning to understand me, who, "preferred to work alone quietly without fuss". This
assessment just made me feel more alienated and longing for infants school when my
creative liveliness was in full flow. No, I didn't prefer to work quietly alone. I was a
deeply damaged soul and still carry the scars to this day though I now have a greater
choice of what I want to do and who I want to be with, rather than the prison of much of
school and the mob mentality.
excellent story, you are very brave, wonder if the bully is now a coward.Posted on 14/05/2010 at 09:21:20