Cape Town - A Cape Town mother is accusing a school of not doing enough to protect her child after she complained of bullying.
The child, 6, is alleged to have threatened suicide after constantly being bullied by another pupil, who was captured on video putting her hands around the child’s throat.
Bardene Louw said she was informed about the extent of the bullying by another pupil’s parents, after a parent called her asking if her daughter was doing “OK”.
“Our daughter was in grade one at Monte Vista primary school and we had to take her out due to being bullied emotionally, socially and mentally and physically. This all started in term one and only got worse. The school has done nothing about it.
“In the second term we viewed the video footage where the bully had her hands around our daughters throat twice. The principal Mrs Swart said to me using the word bullying is too of a strong word for this situation.
“The bully hit our daughter again twice on her back and still nothing was done,” said Louw.
Louw said her child broke down to a point where she was lying about her father passing on, to gain attention.
However, the Western Cape Department of Education (WCED) said it tried numerous interventions to ensure the child was well-integrated.
Department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said the department engaged with the school on the issue and arranged an appointment with an education psychologist and an occupational therapist.
“The department has engaged with the school and learner extensively on this issue, taking into account the learners needs,” Hammond said.
Louw said she would take Isabella out of the school, if the school paid her an amount of R30 000.
“If the school did not agree then they would continue to fight. Louw also informed our District Director that they decided to get legal advice seeing that the WCED is incapable of doing anything, contrary to the evidence below, and that they are expecting results and compensation for pain and suffering,” said Hammond.
Despite the WCED having done everything in its power to resolve the matter, Louw said none of the services or discount they offered was provided and she took to Facebook to complain further.
Louw posted on a popular radio host's Facebook page saying the WCED did nothing to assist her and her child, saying they lied about provided psychological services at a discounted rate.
The school then sent Louw a lawyers letter stating that the post made by her was defamatory. The letter stated that Louw has the opportunity to remove the post before further legal action would be pursued by the school.
Louw claims she was victimised when the school responded via its lawyers and said she is taking the school to the small claims court for not paying all the school fees she spent at the school.
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