With the 6 weeks holidays drawing to an end here in the UK, I am starting to feel anxious about the drama ahead that I know will come along with the new school year.
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My son has additional needs and as a result can sometimes be a target for bullies, although he has learned over the years to stand up for himself.
He has managed to find a set of friends at school that he loves so I am excited for him to be able to socialise in person again after 6 weeks of sitting in his room with his xbox headset on, talking to his friends via the internet. (Apparently it isn’t cool to meet up face to face these days!)
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But what do you do when it is the school system and the teachers that are the ones doing the bullying?
Last year was a nightmare for us. The school system failed my son educationally and then reported me as a parent for NOT drugging my son after he had an adverse reaction to the ADHD meds that were prescribed to him.
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We were told at the end of the last school year that they were removing all of his additional needs support from the classroom starting in September due to funding, just in time for the start of his GCSE’s. Fabulous!
Luckily, the educational Psychologist was at the meeting and she has said she will support me in fighting to get the help put back.
Why do schools make it such a battle to access the support kids need when they have additional requirements? Surely they want all the children to succeed, not just the most able?
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My son has 3 more years left at school. I hope the 3 years will be happy and drama free, but deep down I am preparing myself for the battles ahead.
I am not a huge believer in the school system and I tell my son that even though the school keeps telling him he is failing, he is NOT a failure in my eyes.
He is talented and gifted in other ways and will do well in life as long as he pursues his dreams and follows his passions in life.
I wish he would come back to be homeschooled, but he enjoys the social aspect of school and who am I to stop him from being with his friends. After all, socialisation and communication skills are so much more important that achieving a ‘C’ in Maths!
If he spends the next 3 years creating happy childhood memories, making friends and learning about how to communicate properly, then school was worth the battles from my point of view.
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The last 6 weeks have been fun. We have spent a lot of family time together and have grown closer as a result. He even looks healthier as he has been eating and sleeping properly.
I will miss my son, but I know he will be happier being with his friends on a daily basis, the only reason for me that he attends school. Isn’t that crazy?
The biggest challenge will be counteracting the negativity from school if he doesn’t achieve the targets they set for him. They will continue to punish him and declare that he is a failure, regardless of my wishes. I have no control over what they say to my son, unfortunately.
All I can do is hope that he listens to the positive messages that we tell him at home, and realises that there are more important things in life than GCSE results. There are so many ways to measure success in life, academia is only one of them…
Thank you to Family protection and supporters for all your support through the hard times last year, I wouldn't have made it through without you!
If you would like to know more about Family Protection and the wonderful things that they do, please head over to their blog to check them out.
Thank you so much for reading! Much love, @beautifulbullies xx
