Saturday 1 February 2014

Bullied and Beaten with a Knuckle Buster

At 13 years of age the world around me was a confusing place. I was in an in between zone: still very naive but trying to make sense of daily occurrences that knotted up my mind and chipped away at my innocence. What was happening around the world was not too reassuring either as Skyhooks pointed out in their March ‘75 hit single “Horror Movie”.

The World in April 1975: The Mother Month of Fears for Capitalism   

  

The 1970’s was a heavy decade bloodied by ideological wars fought on third party soils. It was the Cold War Era. And April 1975 was a big month in the annals of the Cold War Era. Just like the images on our convexly bulging and bulky box shaped television, it was a black and white world back then. Ever since World War Two (WW2), two powerful tribes of bullies have been stalking each other on the world stage in what was called the Cold War. 

The United States of America was versing the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( USSR: Russia and the countries it annexed during and after WW2). America and its allies in the western world believed that  capitalism, 'an economic system in which trade, industry and the means of production are controlled by private owners with the goal of making profits in a market economy' - popularly associated with its defenders John Maynard Keynes and Adam Smith - was GOOD, and the opposing economic system, communism, ‘a theory or system of social organization in which all property is owned by the community and each person contributes and receives according to their ability and needs’ - popularly associated with the works of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Friederich Engels, was EVIL. Australia was on America’s side and so the ‘communists’ were our enemies too. Wherever communism threatened to spread to, the western world was there to block it with whatever it took. 

The Cold War was fought by proxy in the developing nations of Africa, Asia and Latin America. The war that dominated the news was VIETNAMA terrifying and foreboding place where horrific things happened to innocent people like fireballs of napalm. And it was fought live in our living rooms on TV for us to see- it was "the television war". But not for much longer because it came to an end at last this month.
An estimated 800,000 to 3.1 million Vietnamese service members were killed in the Vietnam War, around 200,000–300,000 Cambodians and 20,000–200,000 Laotians. The 58,220 American lives lost numerically pale in comparison. Gruesome and voluminous war crimes were committed on all sides as traditional rules of engagement and the Geneva Convention were abandoned wholesale.
Five hundred and twenty one Australians who were conscripted by force and chosen by lottery also perished there. A nauseating amount of lives lost. And it was all for nothing because the allies failed, and as the last of the Americans were being airlifted from Vietnam on April 30, 1975, in one of the worlds largest ever helicopter airlifts aptly named Operation Frequent Wind, communist North Vietnam took over South Vietnam. A fortnight earlier and after five years of war Vietnam's neighbour, Cambodia, had also fallen to one of the most violent men in modern history, Pol Pot and his communist Kmer Rouge. Neighbouring Laos, would fall soon too after which all of Indo-China would degenerate into a frenzy of continued chaos, war crimes and genocide. Just as the USA feared, South East Asia fell like dominoes, one country after the other, to communism. This horrific violence would have an enormous impact on Australia in a just few years time. 






April 1975 was also the month that something much more complex would happen in the Middle East. LEBANON. Lebanon was once nothing like the destroyed country it is today. For 20 golden years Beirut was a unique dynamic multicultural society, an elegant hub of everything international from trade and regional finance, to engineering
and construction, education and universities, shipping and communication. It was fashionable, arty, and entertaining to hang out in Lebanon. It was a tolerant multisectarian

country, with Sunni Muslims hugging the coasts, Shia Muslims populating the south, and the government of Lebanon being run by Maronite Christians. The establishment of the new State of Israel in 1948 - when around 720,000.00 Palestinians fled from the land where Israel would go, to Lebanon, Syria and Jordan - shifted the religious balance in Lebanon in favour of the Muslim population, many of whom weren't happy with the Christian support of the West to start with. 

The Cold War sealed Lebanon’s fate. The Maronite Christians sided with the West while many Muslims and other socialist leaning Arabs sided with the USSR. Then on April 13,  1975 a Christian fanatic killed 27 Palestinians,sparking the onset of the  tragic dirty muddy complicated multifaceted LebaneseCivil War which lasted officially from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities. One million people fled Lebanon - a mass exodus.
While a small number of Christian Lebanese came to Australia well before 1975, after the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in April, more than 20,000 refugees arrived in Australia, over half of which were Muslim.I don’t think I even knew what an Lebanese, or a Muslim was, or a Vietnamese for that matter other than what I saw on TV. The closest bit of Asia I came to was the Chinese restaurant in Penrith because on Mum’s birthday Dad would take us there for dinner. Apart from a small number of Aboriginal students and
a few immigrant ‘exotics’ which I seemed to gravitate to, Springwood High School very much reflected the White Australia Policy. We were mostly of Caucasian European decent. Elsewhere, the poverty stricken developing country of many millions of starving people, India, launched its very first 1st satellite with the help of the USSR this month, and Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft. It was a BIG month in the world. 

School Corporal Punishment 



April 1975 was also a heavy month for me at school. The brutality that was going on in the world was also happening in our schools, and often in our homes. When students violated school regulation, they were vilified by teachers, caned, and expelled where necessary. Teachers threw chalk and dusters at students, sent us out of class and kept us girls in to write sentences over and over like “I must not talk in class” when we misbehaved. And the boys turned up to have their hands ‘cut’ when they did wrong. We had respect for the authority of teachers so we stayed back and did what we were told. ‘Cut’ is another word for being whacked by a flexible rattan cane through our school uniform, on our hands, on our  knuckles or on our bent over bottoms. Other objects could be used, like a ruler or a paddle. School Corporal Punishment , a system of physical punishment Australia inherited from the English, was commonplace in Australian schools - public, private and religious. Headmasters, teachers and even prefects in private schools were permitted to administer ‘cuts’ for anything ranging from encouraging kids to do sport or punishing them for some trivial offense like misspelling words or not knowing history dates. 
Over the course of the past 100 years objections were raised against corporal punishment in schools by parents, teachers and others but when we were at school, consensus against it hadn't yet reached critical mass – and it would take another 20 years too. It wasn't until 1990 that corporal punishment was banned in NSW public schools (1997 in private schools). Technically it can still be legally inflicted in West and South Australia, Queensland, and the Northern Territory.

Bullying in the 70's


With corporal punishment in schools and domestic corporal punishment at home being the norm for us in the 70’s, its hardly surprising that some kids just copied what they saw, learned or was inflicted on them, on their fellow students at school.By Second Form (Year 8) we had pretty much formed into groups. I was in a group with Debbie, Jo, JB, Glenda, and Trudy. Glenda and Trudy moved in and out of our group and another group. There were groups of ‘kids’ that stuck together that we liked, didn’t like, didn’t bother with or didn’t really get to know because there were several hundred of us. And then there were the bullies everyone wanted to stay well clear of. But being bullies, they would hunt their victims down.

Bullying seemed to occur daily in various forms. While Bullying has different vectors today – notably in cyberspace - and the impacts can be tragic as we’ve seen with a number of teen suicides, in our generation bullying was quite brutal and physical, of the “face to face” kind. Students literally beat each other up using tools like knuckle busters. Knuckle busters
are weapons made of metal that bullies wrapped around their knuckles so they could break your skin tissues and fracture your bones on impact. Pushing students down the stairs was common too. There seemed to be no awareness that a push down the stairs could have the same deadly effect as a King Hit can, should the victim hit their head on the rock hard cement when they fell. It was either sink or swim in those days because there was no-one to protect you from bullying, least of all the teachers.When the bullying was intolerable it was usual to take time off school to recover, or out of dread or fear.

Even within our groups, we were pretty ruthless on each other on a day to day basis depending on what happened that day, that week or that month. It was usually about a boy, or out of jealousy - of anything  - and rejection. One minute we ‘liked’ each other, the next we ‘hated’ each other. The ‘hate’ never lasted long and it wasn’t ‘hate’ as in the Oxford definition of having a ‘strong aversion to’, or feelings of ‘intense dislike’ of our fellow group members, because it was always temporary. There just wasn’t another word for “I am really hurt, angry and upset at you for what you just said and did and I’m too immature to deal with it”.  So ‘I hate you, her, him or it” would do. Our allegiances within our group shifted like Saharan sands from one day to the next too, but we still stuck together, sometimes checking out what hanging with other groups might be like, or what it would be like to sit in another part of the school grounds. We didn’t like kids who ‘loved themselves’. But the kids we accused of ‘loving themselves’ were probably just more confident, happier kids than we were.

Being bullied had a lasting effect on me. Reading my diaries for the first time since I wrote them, it would seem that I wasn’t much good at risk minimisation as I liked a group of boys in the form above me which didn’t help my cause at all, and I knew it, but the threat of being beaten to a pulp didn’t stop me fraternising with them.I did try to avoid being bullied. Dad had bought a book to help him at work called “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, by Dale Carnegie. Clearly Dad was interested in the business section of the book, since he was the biggest charmer on the planet and wouldn't have needed it for his interpersonal relations.  How to Win Friends and Influence People,  was one of the first best-selling self help books ever published. It promised to 'get me out of  a mental rut, give me new thoughts, new visions, new ambitions, enable me to make friends quickly and easily, increase my popularity, help me to win people to my way of thinking, increase my influence, my prestige, and my ability to get things done'. I was especially interested in how it would help me 'handle complaints, avoid arguments, and keep my human contacts smooth and pleasant', like the principle, that “the only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it”.  This sounded a hopeful alternative to being tormented regularly, tripped over, pushed down the stairs and beaten up randomly with sharp objects. I tried it out but it didn’t work. When I attempted conflict resolution, peaceful resistance, or avoidance, I was called a “crawler” and beaten up anyway. 

APRIL 1975: The School Bully Beats Me Up               With a Knuckle Buster


Tuesday April 1  Dad Was My Age Too Once Upon a Time! Or Was He?

Dear Diary,
I went to the plaza today and bought some more of those books I was telling you about. Dad had a stab at me about boys. God that makes me sick, he was my age too once upon a time! Or was he ? You know it doesn't seem possible that he was. My sister flattened the (bike) tyre again. Well tomorrow’s school. I can’t wait. I’ll see you later. Today was April fools and I forgot about it. Bye

Wednesday April 2nd –"I thought it was a flying saucer"

Well I've got a lot to tell you about today so I better get moving. First of all on the way to school I looked up at the sky and saw this thing glowing and moving in the sky- I thought it was a flying saucer. But it turned out to be an aeroplane. It was just the angle of it in the sun’s rays. Guess what ? Mark’s got a haircut. It doesn't suit him though but he still looks nice. I saw him several times today but I didn't talk to him. Michael threw a tennis ball real hard at my boob. God it hurt. Ian dropped Debbie AGAIN today- I don’t know why though. So she went around the whole school (just about) telling everyone so someone else will ask her - to make Ian jealous. Debbie loves herself too much it isn't funny. She knows it too. You know Jo suggested that they ring me up to find out if Glenda and I could come to Penrith with them, but Debbie said no because I would only take Jo away from our little talks. UGH!!!!!!!  And she’s keeping a poster Debbie bought Ian for his birthday. AGAIN. She kept the last present she was going to give him. Talk about selfish.
You know what Mark D said to me? “ Wear thicker jeans you can see through the other jeans” – which means I've got horrible legs and they should be covered up so they can’t be seen. That really hurt me. At least I can use them. They’re not there for decoration you know! I got in the B grade netball team. Isn't that wonderful! I tried out for Centre and I played against Cassandra, boy did she give me a hard time. And to top that, she’s in the B team too. I had to go through the usual “Petra Campbell stuffs her bra”. God I hate her. She was teasing me at training too - she’ll never give up. Maybe I should leave the team, but that means I’d have to give up District Rep, which I don’t want to do. Anyway, told you I had a lot. Seeya

Thursday April 3rd - They Bashed Up Mark Today

All those boys came up to me and surrounded me and said that Craig wanted to go with me. And one of them said “he’s capable, trained and professional”. I said “you’d know wouldn't you”. And he goes “ooo arrr well ummm”. Anyway I said I don’t know and later Craig came up to me and asked me what they said. I said to ask them. But Jo told him and he said he was going to think about it- CRICKEES! I've got to think about it too! But I’m not going to. I like him but not enough to go with him. They bashed up Mark today, the poor thing. I’m already used to his haircut. I was running to woodwork and I came across Denton, big Craig and this other guy and as I was running by they grunted and put their arms around me.  Almost finished my tray for woodwork. All I have to do is put the handles on and varnish. Can’t wait. Better go now. Bye.

Friday 4th April - I Have To Write “ I Must Not Speak in Class” 30 Times 

Jo wasn't at school today and Debbie kept on saying that Trudy's a bitch, but she went around with her all day. All the boys kept on calling me today. I think I lost my temper a bit and showed my annoyance - which I shouldn't have done. They wanted to know if I liked Billy and was told that he likes me a lot. I was talking to Mark again today, he asked me how Craig was, and I said “ you hang around there, so you know how he is” and he said “ he asked you though” and I said “ he didn't”. And then I told him about what happened yesterday and he said “ oh” . I said to him that he got his haircut and he reckoned he hadn't. And I said it was thinned, and he got his fringe cut and he said “Yes”. I saw him again after that and smiled at him.I have to write 30 times I must not speak in class for science because he caught me speaking - as usual. Trudy’s having a party but I probably won’t be going. Bye.

Saturday April 5th –  West World, The Movie

I loved this Sci-fi film which starred the gorgeous Yul Brynner as an android in a futuristic Western -themed amusement park populated by androids with which guests could enact their fantasies. Yul Brenner is a gunman who goes out of control after being infected by a computer virus and starts killings guests. After the android kills his best friend, Guest Peter Martin played by Richard Benjamin, Peter tries to kill the android but he just never seems to die - like Terminator.
                   
Played netball today. Won the first game 15- 4, won the second game for Rep training. Went to see West World at Glenbrook. It was quite good and funny. Robert A and Robert B were there and I said hello to them. Stuart, Glen and Mark B were there and we sat next to them all night. It was good. Glen was being his usual stupid self and we were laughing the most. Every time they ate something we were offered one. Oh I didn't tell you I went with Debbie and her parents to the theater. Bye.

Sunday April 6 - I Shave Half My Legs For The First Time

I got up fairly early this morning and boy did I feel sick. I was so tired cause of last night. I didn't get to sleep until 12.30 . Boy I had a great big washing up to do and I've got one tomorrow when I come home. Mum wants me to have my hair styled into shag. But I’m scared it will turn out terrible. Forgot to tell you yesterday, I shaved half of my leg. But it seems to have taken half my tan away and I can’t decide whether to shave the rest off. I don’t want to go to school tomorrow, but I suppose I have to. Bye.

Monday April 7 - “Why don’t you go with all of us”

Mark came up and asked me if I would go with Billy. I told him I like him but not enough to go with him. And then he asked who I liked best and Glenda said “ I know”. Luckily he didn't ask. When we were going to 6th period, some boys behind me said “ why don’t you go with all of us”. I said “sure” 23 times. I  shaved my legs but only under my knees. I didn't have time to do the rest. I got my library card today. I have a dreadful pain in my stomach. Mum reckons it’s my periods. I hope not. But in a way I do. Seeya

Tuesday April -   I Nick A Dollar

Igor, a tall boy, kept looking at me today. I just kept smiling. I told Debbie she loved herself. 
Boy did she get shitted up. Jo was away again.nicked 1 dollar today. God am I ashamed. But I had to. We are absolutely broke and haven’t any money to spare. I never thought we’d be so poor. I don’t know whether to go to school or not cause of cross country, but I spose I have to. I was sick again today, and Mum said “ it’s probably your periods” in front of Mrs Kerosene. Sarah ( Mrs Kerosene’s baby  daughter ) wet her pants, and went and smeared her shitted bum all over the carpet. Seeya.

Wednesday April 9 -  “ Good onya Petra” – For what? Cheating ! And lying ! Conking out!

I did go to school today and went in cross country. I feel ashamed because in the second lap, I 
conked out , but I told everyone puked. What a stinking liar. Mark went in it, but he conked out half way too. I was walking past the 15 yr boys who were getting ready for their race, and the usual boys howled out “ Good Onya Petra” – for what? cheating ! and lying ! conking out ! I was eating a packet of chips and all the boys shouted my name and asked for some. I gave them the rest of the packet and they asked me what I came. I told Mark to tell them. Stuart and Gavin were at training today.

Thursday April 10 -  ­ UUUUUUUUGH

A tall kid with curly hair walked past me and goes “uuuuuuughhh!” And tapped me on the face. I have a funny feeling he likes me cause he keeps looking at me. You know I wish I could go up and talk to them freely. But I never know what to talk about and I guess I’m a bit worried about being alone with all those boys cause none of the other girls would come with me. I was watching them on the oval and on the bus but they didn't see me.

Saturday April 12 -    Mum Finds My Diary Under The Mattress.

I umpired a game today and Michelle was running with me. I’m going for it (the umpire exam) on Wednesday. We won 29 to 1. Trudy was there and that Helen kid who told Trudy’s Mum I called her Mum a mole. And Debbie was acting real smirky, stuck-up and a real bitch. She makes me sick the way she loves herself. Mum found you under the mattress, so I don’t know where I’m going to put you now, cause knowing Mum she read it. Oh yeah, Debbie said Your Mum still thinks you're sex starved ( in front of everyone ).

Sunday April 13  - I've Got A Craze For The Song “January” By Pilot.
Pilot

Slept in late this morning and all I did all day was that stupid project I had for cooking, and my neck is killing me. I watched a tiny bit of CountdownWe had tea during my half of it, and Dad wanted to watch the football. I've got a craze of the song “JANUARY” now. My sister’s going away for 4 days tomorrow- peace and quiet at last. Bye.

Monday April 14 - Debbie’s Still Got The Shits With Us 

Debbie’s 
still got the shits with us, only this time she’s still got the shits with Jo and JB. Because G and Jo were having a conversation on paper and Debbie asked to read it. And G let her. I think G just did it because she was getting all the blame and wanted someone else to get it also. So she showed her the note and it was all about Debbie loving herself and how she knows it. And she’s got a whole gang of kids ( Trudy and about 30 other kids hating us) – the mole.

Tuesday April 15 -  Debbie Wasn't At School Today

Debbie wasn't at school today- the wagger- cause of yesterday, but I guess I don’t blame her. Jo and she had a fight when Jo went to Debbie’s. G deliberately tried to break Jo and Debbie up cause G always hated Debbie and Jo said “ I’ll have to get a new best friend now” and G said “ I will be your new best friend”. I told her too, and I blew her up like hell. Igor really put his arm around me this time but I still luv Mark. Tracy tried to kick me cause I like Mark – but she missed. Anyway bye.

Wednesday April 16 -  We Sort It All Out With Debbie

Debbie came to school today and we sorted it all out. Trudy tried to pair Debbie up with a 5th form guy. But Debbie wouldn't. So Trudy started crying. Mark walked past me and baulked meAnd I didn't realise who it was until I looked back. I waved to him once too. Denton looks really nice when he winks and smiles at me. He did it at me today. Billy and Craig pinched and patted me on the bum at roll callI was told that means you’re sexy. Mark has football training on Wednesdays, so I can’t see him when I have netball training. I finished my tray and I gave it to Mum. Seeya

Thursday April 17 -  The School Bully Tries To Pick A Fight With Me

The School Bully tried to pick a fight with me todayTHE MOLE. But I didn't cause I was being kept in. I was going to third period and all the boys walked past me and said hello. I talked to Craig too. I like Denton and that Jason kid’s OK. But I still like MARK. It’s a fight now, with me and Amanda cause she likes him and so do I. I wish he would ask me. God Mum’s a bitch. She’s got the shits with me and wouldn't let me watch Paul Hogan, so I had a shower and she caught me, and I’m not allowed to have a shower for a week. She can get STUFFED

Friday April 18 -  “We Don’t Bother About Crawlers”

Guess what ! Mark hates Amanda. Isn't that wonderful! I was talking to Mark and he was being real sweet. He is fantastic Diary. So are you. Robert said he was going to pair up with me. And bloody Debbie went and took him off me. The School Bully came up to me to fight me and I started talking to her and she walked away saying we don’t bother about crawlers”. Can’t wait until the party. Bus was late and I was talking to Denton and all them. One of them asked me if I want a screw. I love Mark. I was so happy today I wanted to cry.

Saturday April 19 -  Trudy’s Party – A Conspiracy Of Partners At Postman Knock

We won netball 46- 2. WOW. I went to Trudy’s party. It was boring. We played Spin the Bottle and Postman's Knock but everyone kept on organising their numbers, so that was no fun. All through the night , I kept on wishing Mark was there, and a couple of times I nearly cried. I like Robert though.  I got P but I wouldn't pair up with him, so I said I had to go to the toilet and ran away. If Mark was there it would have been dreamy. Robert is just wonderful and he is really good looking. 

Monday April 21  - We Had Four Prank Calls Today

Nothing much happened today. Ian said he was going to bash Craig up because he was going with Debbie. But Ian doesn't own her. CHRIST! Robert wasn't here today, worst luck, and Debbie’s trying to pair Jo up with him. It’s not fair. We were with the other group today, so I didn't see much of the other guys, and I didn't even say hello to Mark. We had 4 prank calls today, and whoever was on the other end didn't say anything. Rung Debbie and Jo up and had a good old nag. But Mum came home and got all shitted up. Seeya

Tuesday April 22  - The School Bullies Push Me Down the Stairs

Well Debbie’s back with Ian and Jo’s going with Robert. I wanted to go with Robert. Michelle, Debbie and some other girls tried to pick a fight with me. They were pushing me down the stairs and pushing me everywhere. So Debbie and Ian and all of them left me behind, so I blew Debbie up, and she blew me up. And I hate everyone. Even Mark. He started it all. God some people get jealous. And what gets me is that they've got to have a whole bunch of kids to belt me up. Kim was the one who rang us up. I like Robert now. Seeya

Wednesday April 23 - I’m Scared The School Bullies Are Going To Bash me Up.

I didn't go to school today. put on a sickie act. And I couldn't help thinking about yesterday. I don’t really know whether I like Mark or not, which makes me think that I’m just pretending to like him, so I can believe I really like someone. And I don’t really get to see much of the other boys or Mark cause we've joined the other group and I hate it.
I’m scared that those girls are going to bash me up. And I’m hoping they won’t. I’m not good at fighting. I don’t like it. And I don’t like to cause much attention. Especially if I have to try and fight against a whole bunch of kids. Well I dread tomorrow but I've got to find out whether I like Mark or not. Seeya

Thursday April 24 - Everybody Hates Me

Everybody hates me, even Mark and the other guys. I started singing 
nobody loves me everybody hates me” (“ I think I’ll go eat worms” – a song Dad used to sing when Mum was upset with him),  and Debbie goes “How did u get the hint?”. Nobody talks to me and everybody gives me a dirty look. Debbie said to everyone that I like Robert. Jo hates me and Robert avoids me. So I went away (everyone was glad) and Grady says “everyone’s up there and that’s where you should be”. They even organised a day at Ian’s, but they said it in secret, so I would know. From now on, I’m going to keep my mouth shut. I still like Mark I guess. I want to cry and I keep wishing Mark was with me. Oh lord help me PLEASE.

Friday April 25 - “How To Win Friends and Influence People”

There wasn't any school today, and all I did was watch TV. Glenda came down and I said, “Everyone hates me don’t they?”, and Glenda said “Yes”. She doesn't know why though. Neither do I. I didn't do anything, I don’t know why they hate me. They even organised a day at Ian’s for Jo and Robert, Ian and Debbie, and Glenda and Michael. They didn't want singles coming ( JB and me ). I didn't tell you but I’m reading a book called “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. Maybe that will help.

Saturday April 26 - Debbie Reckons They Don’t all Hate Me

We won netball 20 to 16, and won the other 23- 14. Saw Debbie today and she reckons they don’t all hate me. She hates G, you should of heard what Debbie was saying – it was really bad. She reckons G's got her little claws on Robert and Debbie says that G wasn't coming to Ian’s place cause she’s planning to nab Robert. I couldn't go anyway, I've got Rep next week. Can’t wait. I wonder if I should tell G. I've learned a couple of things from the book I’m reading, but whether it will work or not I don’t know. Seeya

Sunday April 27 -  I Got My Periods. Isn't That wonderful!”

Well they finally came, I got my periods. Isn't that wonderful! I told Mum and she was elated. She’s going “ Oh at last my little woman” and all this. She was really happy. Trouble is its worse the next day, and Mum’s going to go away for 4 days. So I’m in trouble. I’m scared about tomorrow though. I have to wear pads, and they’re really bulky.

Monday April 28  I Still Like Mark

We had a fight with G in Science about Robert. First of all she splits Debbie and Jo up, and now she’s trying to split Robert and Jo up. Roberts OK. I saw Mark. I still like him. And I spoke to Craig. I wish we hadn't have joined the other group, cause I don’t see much of those boys anymore.

Tuesday April 29 I Was In A Bitch Fight Today

I was in a bitch fight today with The School Bully. I was sitting on the stairs and I tried to get out of it but I couldn't. She bloody well wrapped a broken bangle around her fingers (knuckle buster). It had a spike on the end too and she kept on whipping me on the face with it. I've got a scratch mark and bruises of my forehead, a black eye which is killing me, a whopping headache ( where she pushed my head real hard on the brick wall ), and a monstrous bruise lump on my leg when she kicked me cause I was bending her fingers back. I am sore all over. I couldn't stand it anymore. She was pestering me for a fight so I gave her one. I just hope she doesn't come back for more. After that I walked away to the library and I started crying. But I wasn't crying cause she hurt me. I was crying cause I made a fool of myself fighting. About 20 teachers asked me what was wrong. And Trudy said “Someone bashed her up”instead of that “she was in a fight”. I told Thompson and she said she would tell Mr. Curry. And later we were watching the Tasman Cup soccer and she ( The School Bully) came back for more. But Thompson was there. If she fights any more I’ll get Dad onto her. And if she still persists, I’ll get the police. I wish Mark was there to comfort me, but he hates my guts, and now he doesn't say hello anymore. Neither do the other guys. Poor Denton had to get 2 cuts off Bedoe today. Robert was going to drop Jo for a stir but he didn't cause Jo said if he did she’d drop him for real. My periods have stopped and I LOVE MARK.

Wednesday April 30 - The School Bully Comes Back for More, Bringing Ten Other Kids With Her AND  They Break Sue’s Ankle. I Wish I was Dead.

I was in an embarrassing situation today. I didn't wear a pad to school cause I thought my periods had stopped. But they didn't, cause in the morning a whole lot came out. I thought I had wet myself but it was blood, right through my pants. So I had to tell Thompson and she told me to wash my pants so I could put on someone’s bloomers and put my pants in the drier. Then the seniors came in and I didn't know what to say. So I just said “I’ve got something in the drier”. I thought they’d never leave! Jo dropped Robert cause she reckons he doesn't like her. Debbie said that Ian’s going to drop her.

The School Bully did come back for more, only this time she bought 10 other kids with her. And they tried to drag me out of the library, but I dug my nails into them. Then a bloody teacher went and dragged me out!  Debbie and Jo got real worried cause they thought they were involved. Then The School Bully pushed Sue down the stairs, and she broke her ankle. There’s a rumour that she’s been expelled. Oh Lord I hope so. Cassandra reckons I’m going to have another one. Everyone was too gutless to tell Thompson who pushed Sue down the stairs, because they are scared they are going to get bashed up. Ian’s bloody gutless I tell you. I talked to Mark and said I hadn't seen him for a long time. He asked why we weren't on the stairs, and I told him cause Jo's going with Robert, and he goes “ that white girl” . I think he likes her. Why am I so unpopular? I haven’t done anything against anyone. I wish I was dead.

TO BE CONTINUED....

ARE YOU BEING BULLIED AT SCHOOL? The following resources might be helpful:

·         Bullying No Way

·         National Centre Against Bullying

·         Raising Children Network



Written By Petra Campbell

Web: www.petramcampbell.com
Email: kpmm@ozemail.com.au
Twitter: @petraau
Facebook:www.facebook.com/petra.campbell.31

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