Taieri bullying 'invading community'

Taieri Community Facilities Trust deputy chairman Geoff Woodcock and several parents of children being bullied at Taieri College believe antisocial behaviour inside the school is beginning to spill out into the local community.

• School's way of dealing with bullying 'farcical'

Donna Munro, the parent of a 16-year-old girl with cerebral palsy, said she was forced to remove her daughter from Taieri College because the school failed to protect her from bullying.

Ms Munro said bullying seemed to be "a normal and accepted" practice among the pupils, and it was now spilling out into the community.

"I've been walking up the main street in Mosgiel with [my daughter] and heard boys 50m away yelling 'you're a [expletive] retard' at her.

"It's the most gutting sensation to see as a parent. How must that make her feel?"

The mother of the 15-year-old boy assaulted and concussed at the school last week agreed the problem was evident outside school grounds.

"I really think there should be some community action from parents. When you go to the supermarket, there's kids hanging around swearing, riding skateboards erratically and intimidating people," she said.

"You see people looking, but no-one does anything about it. Someone needs to stand up and help make this community safe."

The Mosgiel Taieri Community Board and Mosgiel police said there had not been any reported incidents of bullying by Taieri College pupils in the local community.

However, Mr Woodcock said he had noticed a group of about 30 pupils aged between 8 and 18 who had been creating havoc in public areas.

There had been several incidents of vandalism and arson at Memorial Park playground in Mosgiel, which the trust was responsible for developing.

"There's a group of people coming through who are clearly exhibiting antisocial behaviour. It's distressing for people using the park," Mr Woodcock said.

"A teacher told me there's a big group of pupils coming through who are practically unteachable and teachers are best to just bunker down for the next five years until they are in prison. It's a really sad state of affairs."

He encouraged parents of Taieri College pupils to keep "battling" for bullies to be dealt with.

He said if they did not, bullying would become institutionalised.

"Is it going to take a suicide before any action takes place?''