School must enforce anti-bullying policy, says convicted father

Mairehau Primary School must enforce its anti-bullying policy, the man convicted of assaulting his daughter's alleged tormentor says.

Daryl Michael Falcon, a 34-year-old loader with no previous convictions, was yesterday fined $500 for assaulting an 11-year-old boy who was allegedly bullying his daughter at her Christchurch primary school.

Falcon had just dropped his daughter off at school when she told him about a further incident of bullying -- she had been slapped in the face with a book -- and pointed out the boy involved.

He approached the boy, yelled at him, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and poked him with a finger -- causing no injury -- and told him to "stop bullying my daughter".

Falcon today said he did not think he would do such a thing again but that the school had to stand by its anti-bullying policy.

"I feel they had not dealt with it at all. When we enrolled our daughter at the school we were told that any child who bullies, they have like a three strikes and you're out policy," he told National Radio.

"After the third time you're supposed to be removed from the school but, like I say, this was about the fourth time he had bullied our daughter alone and he was still there, he was still in the class, he was still at the school, he hadn't been removed at all.

"From what we have heard from other parents of children in my daughter's class, he'd also bullied their kids throughout the year as well."

Mr Falcon said it was frustrating to hear principal John Bangma saying he believed the school had a good anti-bullying policy when his daughter's alleged bully, among others, remained at the school.

"It's not until the parents finally get up in arms and really start kicking up a stink about bullies that he actually seems to do something about it -- he seems to be quite happy to sit back and let the bullies stay at the school and the bullying continue," he said.

Mr Bangma this morning said the school had no hard and fast rule under which children were kicked out of the school after three bullying incidents.

Instead, each situation was looked at on its merits.

"So it's not just a case of one size fits all because you're dealing with five-year-olds through to 13-year-olds," he told National Radio.

"What I can tell you is that every incident that we are aware of, we follow up."

Mr Bangma said he had full confidence in his staff and believed the incidents involving Falcon's daughter were handled appropriately.

"We have, I believe, a very strong relationship between the staff and the children so that the children know that at any time, if they don't believe that a situation has been dealt with adequately or they're still unhappy about how things have gone or if it continues, then they need to go and talk to another adult in the school," he said.

Falcon hoped to meet with Mr Bangma during the next school term, and Mr Bangma said he would be happy to do so.

Falcon had no plans to withdraw his daughter from the school, saying she had less than two years of primary school left and he did not want to upset her routine.

"She's got a real good network of friends. They've all been very supportive of her," Falcon said.

"Hopefully the school will now take more appropriate steps to deal with bullies in the future and all the kids will hopefully feel safe there now."

- NZPA