Felicia April ( green T-shirt and holding a placard) protesting with a group of residents outside the Lynnwood Ridge Primary School last year
Tshwane-based Patriotic Alliance (PA) activist Felicia April is aggrieved that the Department of Basic Education has failed to solve bullying-related issues at Lynnwood Ridge Primary School in Tshwane.
According to April, Lynnwood Ridge Primary School is a mess regarding cases of bullying because 42 cases of bullying were reported yet the school’s authorities insist there are no bullying-related incidents at the school.
“I’m appalled by the fact that the Department of Basic Education is still giving me a run-around besides countless meetings that I have held with them and also after sending them numerous emails regarding the bullying issue at Lynnwood Ridge Primary School,” said an aggrieved April.
“The only outcome they could come up with was that there is no evidence regarding bullying at the school,” she said.
“What evidence does one need when dealing with Primary School kids? ” she asked in agitation.
She told Tshwane Talks that as an anti-bullying activist she is currently dealing with three cases and one of them involves an 8-year-old kid who consumes half a shopping bag of medicine to get relief from the trauma that he has suffered due to bullying at Lynnwood Ridge Primary School.
Patriotic Alliance activist Felicia April
She said the other case involves an 11-year-old kid who is scared to go to school because a teacher who once assaulted him has been reinstated at the school.
The third case is about a kid who frequently scratches her body parts until she bleeds, this as a result of the trauma she has suffered due to bullying.
She explained that there is a kid who is failing in a particular subject at the school and suspects that the kid is being victimised and failed because his mother stood up for him regarding the bullying he has suffered at the school.
April insists that several learners have been raped, bullied and called the K-word at the school, yet the Department of Basic Education as well as the government are turning a blind eye to these matters.
She said the Department of Basic Education recently published an article wherein it falsely claimed that a team of psychologists had been sent to the school to conduct counselling sessions regarding bullying.
“This is a blatant lie because until now the learners and their families haven’t received any counselling whatsoever,” she enthused.
She insisted that her request to the Department of Basic Education is two-fold:
1.The conclusion of cases related to bullying at Lynnwood Ridge Primary School.
2.The provision of counselling to affected learners and their families.
“I don’t intend giving up my battle against the education authorities even if it means I will fight alone and I am going nowhere until we fix our schools,” she fumed.
Meanwhile, three parents confirmed to Tshwane Talks that their children had indeed been bullied at Lynnwood Ridge Primary School and were still waiting for the school’s authorities to deal with the culprits and also offer their children counselling.
Spokesperson for the Department of Basic Education Steve Mabona has up to now failed to respond to queries sent to him by Tshwane Talks regarding incidents of bullying at Lynnwood Ridge Primary School.