‘You Have No Friends Except Your Dumbass LSE!’: Maltese School Bullies Force Child Out Of School
When 11-year-old Ajay Marmara began his new school venture, he knew it would come with some challenges.
Being on the autism spectrum, change was never going to be easy, regardless of his parent’s constant support, and reassurance that it will all be okay.
But things took a turn for the worse when Ajay fell victim to severe and constant bullying – sometimes even after he had gone home for the day.
Unable to attend class with his parents, Ajay’s only accompaniment was his Learning Support Educator (LSE), with who he enjoyed a great friendship.
With the passing weeks, peers in his class separated themselves from him. More often than not, he was left to play alone during break time.
The situation escalated. Classmates resorted to name-calling and false accusations based on his condition. And all this, allegedly, came from a boy who eventually ‘turned the whole class against him’, Ajay’s mother Kelly, told Lovin Malta.
Where it all began
“It all began with Ajay complaining of the odd headache, out of the blue,” Kelly said. “He would say that he was in pain, but once we decided to keep him home, he would recover.”
“So long as he was at home, he was fine. He would play some computer games and all would be well. But when the time came for him to go to school, the headaches would crop up again.”
“He would tell neither me nor his father what was really going on. Throughout his entire life, he never snitched on anybody.”
Eventually, even Ajay’s LSE became aware of the problem and reported it to the school’s administration. She could do no more than that, because bypassing administration and informing the parents directly was a violation of the school’s protocol.
Some weeks later, Kelly had a meeting with the assistant head and Ajay’s LSE, during which time, she asked outright: “Is anyone picking on my son?”
“It was then when I found out that a kid at school was picking on Ajay and turning the whole class against him. I cried my eyes out.”
The school allegedly assured Kelly that they would keep tabs on the situation
“I was assured they will keep constant eyes on Ajay and the other kid and I was assured that this will not happen again so we trusted the school to tackle the issue the way it is meant to be tackled.”
But one week ago, Kelly got a surprising call from the school.
“They said that my son was depressed and that the cause of his depression is coming from home, because he would get into the odd tiff with his sister. We were advised to take him to family therapy by the school’s assistant head and guidance teacher.”
Strange news, the parents thought, considering that Ajay’s home served as his sole sanctuary during these trying times.
“Ajay is loved at home. But still, we got very worried. I spoke with his father to see what we could do.”
But two days later, Kelly caught wind of a disturbing message sent to her son by way of Teams, an online platform the school uses to issue homework, amongst other things. The message is shown in her social media post below.
“How kids can be so cruel, I will never understand.”
Kelly and her Ajay’s father eventually decided to take matters to the police, who spoke to the parents of the accused children and issued a copy of the action taken to the respective school.
Ajay has since been withdrawn from the school
Ajay’s parents are currently withholding their son from attending the school premises, despite several reassurances from the school that the situation will be monitored.
Despite some pressure from the parents to see that action is taken against the bullies, the school merely responded by stating that the situation was not dire enough for anything further to be done, they state.
“My son is not attending school for being a victim of bullying. But the bully gets to go to school normally,” Kelly said.
“I ask parents: would your mind be at ease knowing that your son is being sent to the wolves den?”
Since going public with the story, Education Minister Clifton Grima has been in contact with the parents.
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