An Apology and a Request to all members of AYR
Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 1:16 pm
Hello to everyone reading this post.
Firstly, I would like to apologize to all of you. Why you ask? Well I think it goes without saying if youve been a lifetime member of this group. Many of you who dont know me will notice if you go to read allot of earlier threads on this forum that I had participated in have been reduced to nonsense because of a singular selfish action made on my own behalf.
I was administrator of this website and let all of you down in a way that no enemy to our group could ever rival. Dean you trusted me with your lifes work and I am deeply sorry for damage it caused to the group. I let the actions of a minority scare me into a decision that I had no right to make and it spoiled years of threads and made waves that I didnt take into close enough consideration at the time. My extended leave of absence after this event died down however has been quite an extraordinary experience and has required my devout attention throughout.
My 13 year old son was diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome 2 years ago after so many years of not knowing why his behaviour was not quite right and a little encouragement from close family that 'nothing is wrong with the child, hes just very naughty and you baby him too much'. It finally came to a head when his social skills were not acceptable at school or home for that matter and I took him to an array of specialists where he was diagnosed with ASD rating highly on the scale. For those who havent heard of Aspergers, it is an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and he also suffers with ADHD and Dysthymic Disorder so we have our work cut out for us on a good day. Dont get me wrong, its not a life threatening sentence and all but mixed with the troubles weve encountered in the school system with bullies it has been an emotional and mentally exhausting/frustrating/almost hopeless predicament for our son to be in.
For the past 3 years he has suffered relentless bullying at school because of his extreme social awkwardness and this year attending year 8 he has been made painfully aware by a group of his school peers that he is a retarded freak and will never fit in anywhere. Earlier this year a girl in 11th grade broke his nose on the bus ride home after threatening him for the last 2 years solid and since then his depression has worsened and I cant get him to school most mornings because I cant, with any amount of patience or encouragement, assure him of his safety from verbal or physical violence. I worry about him taking his own life as the medication hes on for the bulk of his symptoms carries a high risk of suicidal tendencies as a side effect, among many others!
The reason for this novel insight and my request. Im unacustomed to asking for help, but for the sake of my own son and thousands of other children that I know of who are faced with a school bully situation that escalates to violent behaviour, can I ask for your support to try and do something pro active? I have drawn a petition requiring the attention of our Prime Minister to ask him for a bootcamp reform facility to deal with our out of control school aged youth. It might not help my son much at this point, but we need to break this cycle for the future students of our country. I feel sick when I watch the news and see that another victim of bullying is reported and we sit and twiddle our thumbs rehearsing the No Bullies Allowed policy.
If you have managed to get to the end of this post and would like to be part of this idea, please follow the link and sign my petition. This is for every child who has been told they dont belong somewhere in this world...may they no longer walk alone
http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/p ... ully-youth
Firstly, I would like to apologize to all of you. Why you ask? Well I think it goes without saying if youve been a lifetime member of this group. Many of you who dont know me will notice if you go to read allot of earlier threads on this forum that I had participated in have been reduced to nonsense because of a singular selfish action made on my own behalf.
I was administrator of this website and let all of you down in a way that no enemy to our group could ever rival. Dean you trusted me with your lifes work and I am deeply sorry for damage it caused to the group. I let the actions of a minority scare me into a decision that I had no right to make and it spoiled years of threads and made waves that I didnt take into close enough consideration at the time. My extended leave of absence after this event died down however has been quite an extraordinary experience and has required my devout attention throughout.
My 13 year old son was diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome 2 years ago after so many years of not knowing why his behaviour was not quite right and a little encouragement from close family that 'nothing is wrong with the child, hes just very naughty and you baby him too much'. It finally came to a head when his social skills were not acceptable at school or home for that matter and I took him to an array of specialists where he was diagnosed with ASD rating highly on the scale. For those who havent heard of Aspergers, it is an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and he also suffers with ADHD and Dysthymic Disorder so we have our work cut out for us on a good day. Dont get me wrong, its not a life threatening sentence and all but mixed with the troubles weve encountered in the school system with bullies it has been an emotional and mentally exhausting/frustrating/almost hopeless predicament for our son to be in.
For the past 3 years he has suffered relentless bullying at school because of his extreme social awkwardness and this year attending year 8 he has been made painfully aware by a group of his school peers that he is a retarded freak and will never fit in anywhere. Earlier this year a girl in 11th grade broke his nose on the bus ride home after threatening him for the last 2 years solid and since then his depression has worsened and I cant get him to school most mornings because I cant, with any amount of patience or encouragement, assure him of his safety from verbal or physical violence. I worry about him taking his own life as the medication hes on for the bulk of his symptoms carries a high risk of suicidal tendencies as a side effect, among many others!
The reason for this novel insight and my request. Im unacustomed to asking for help, but for the sake of my own son and thousands of other children that I know of who are faced with a school bully situation that escalates to violent behaviour, can I ask for your support to try and do something pro active? I have drawn a petition requiring the attention of our Prime Minister to ask him for a bootcamp reform facility to deal with our out of control school aged youth. It might not help my son much at this point, but we need to break this cycle for the future students of our country. I feel sick when I watch the news and see that another victim of bullying is reported and we sit and twiddle our thumbs rehearsing the No Bullies Allowed policy.
If you have managed to get to the end of this post and would like to be part of this idea, please follow the link and sign my petition. This is for every child who has been told they dont belong somewhere in this world...may they no longer walk alone
http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/p ... ully-youth