My name is Natalia , I am fifteen years old.*
England is my second country although I have being living here for thirteen years and I feel part of this society. I am being brought up in a catholic family where the main priority is hard work , fairness and respect towards others. I was taught to always fight for my rights and never turn my head away from other important issues. I really enjoy law and politics and in the future i'd like to consider studying one of those topics.
My major issue began 3 years ago and it continues till today. I deal with very severe bullying at school , I had been beaten many times , I am name called each day , humilated and discriminated. Its confirmed many times with evidence , reported to the police , I had being excluded (isolated) from my school life /society and not only by the students and peers but also by the school staff only beacause I chose to fight for my own rights. Most of the staff do not wish to speak with me or my family because it would " ruin the good name" of the school. The school's opinion in terms of the best method to help is to isolate me from my peers and take me to learning support but my opinion is that my issue occurs due to people not liking my lifestyle , my different accent , good manners , that I really enjoy to educate myself and hate slang or swearing and I also enjoy a healthy lifestyle.
My mom proposed the help for me to be more about integrating me more with my peers. But my school has no clubs , my school has no trips and if there is a trip then it only tends to be for chosen individuals.*
There was a Paris trip at my school , on the school website it states that it's for sixth form but at school everyone ( from year 7 to year 11)*
had newsletters and were told by several members of staff. I was the only one who didn't know about this trip.*When we ask the school for help , we are told by the school staff things such as "we are not your service'' or "we are not your waitress" or "you are not our boss". The staff do not reply to any emails that are sent to them and do not wish to speak with me or my parents.*
I have signed up for an anti-bullying group , the member of staff that was responsible*for the group/club was meant to* introduce me to the whole group but he procrastinated with it for weeks and weeks therefore I was never invited to the group or introduced and I know that he had enough time because I have seen him meeting with the group behind my back. When my mom asked the school why I have been treated this way, the school won't reply.*
When I told that my hobby is politcs and law the staff made fun of me and told me that my peers aren't interested because*its too boring for them.*
I am excluded from all school events such as sports day , christmas party , school awards even though I have high grades in many of my subjects.*
When I don't attend such events the staff tell me to stay home because they understand that nobody likes me . After all, nobody wants to see me in such an event and whenever I am absent the staff do not care , they don't care if I attend school or don't go to school . I have been off school for two weeks and the school didn't call my parents or send a message to ask why.*One of my worst experiences that took place was a situation where a year ago I've being trying to get to the student parliament leadership group , I wasn't taken in. So I've tried again this year and I got a place. I was very happy and excited , I began thinking of some ideas for some projects. The member of staff who was responsible for the group looked at my ideas and told me that she will take them to the headteacher and help to organise*my projects/ideas but she procrastinated*with this and each week she told me the same thing and so my ideas were never looked at. I think they've landed to the bin instead.
* It turned out that nobody wants to attend this club , the member of staff who is in charge of the club said that she won't force anyone to come. I got my parliament*leader badge , I wanted to feel needed at this school , I was also told that the* people who are part of this group will be chosen for the youth council , normally 2 people chosen. But nobody wanted to organise the meetings anymore and when I've came to ask about it I was told that they don't have time.* A couple of days later it turned out that two people have being chosen to sit at the youth council , two random boys , I've seen their photos with the mayor and deputy mayor - recieving certificates. The headteacher said that the two boys who are " part of our student parliament leadership " have being chosen to sit at the youth council. So ive decided to ask the boys how they have managed to earn such a position , they've told me that a teacher came to them at Random and have offered them to sit at the youth council although the boys have said that they have no idea about a parliament leadership*group , they didn't even know such a group exists*and showed a lack of interest , they were not part of the parliament leadership group at all, the headteacher letter was a lie. When my mom asked the school to explain why I was treated this way , the school told us that it's a tradition for year 11 boysThese are just some issues that I have faced at school but there are much more and I would like these issues to be finally heard and I would like some changes to be done because these problems are well hidden by schools and aren't spoken about as much. It's important for young people to have their voice heard in terms of education issues , they are the future of this* country , the future of this world but there are no institutions / organisations who would help young individuals like me or would fight against this issue. Nobody wants to take this issue seriously.*
Three years of my severe situation at school , where I've faced racism, bullying and intolerance taught me how schools in our country treat young individuals like myself.
I've learn that when issues of injustice such as bullying occur at school , the school staff who are meant to be responsible for dealing with such issues, do not deal with these issues , they don't know how to manage it and very often ignore it. They would rather sit in their office , do nothing and be payed for nothing.
Staff show no authority towards students.
Very often staff protect bullies , there is much favouritism as staff choose to favouritse bullies and only popular students in the hope that they will become popular, liked teachers choosing to ignore serious issues , victims of bullying , victims of any sort of injustice in school. It's upsetting that a child has to be left alone with issues , the staff choose to ignore student's voices , where is the truth in the statement " every child has a right to have their voice heard "
" every child counts "
When schools deprive children of these rights and harshly choose to hide it never owning up to their inhumane actions towards students and parents.
*Instead of been heard we are treaten like rubbish. Complaints are never listened to even though the policy states that we have a right to complain , raise issues and fight for improvements but this is never the case.Ambitious unique people hardly have a chance because there's hardly any clubs , trips , individuals such as politicans , sports people aren't invited to the school to speak to the youth. Most of the time these ambitious unique people are isolated from school life , schools don't promote diversity and acceptance within young people.
When I've read my school website I couldn't believe it , there's hardly anything on that website that would state the truth at all , even ofsted reports are lies .*
I have contacted my local MP , I have contacted the minster of education, the depertament of education, ofsted, I have spoken to staff at school , I have spoken to local authority ( council ) , the police however I have been faced with ignorance and lack of desire to make a change.
There are many articles , many comments on social media , there's so many people , young people and parents who see this issue yet there are no institutions that would fight for this , children can't fight for their own rights at school here in England.
My aim is to raise this issue , to fight for a change in law and policy in schools in England however I cannot do this alone , I struggle to begin when many are against me trying to hide their negligence.
I understand that I cannot receive direct help from you due to the distance but it would mean a lot if I could receive advice or an opinion from you.
Thank you for taking the time to read.