How to Beat School Bullies

By Murray Jesson

Young Peter High, a studious 15-year-old schoolboy, only wanted to learn. But in late junior school, he found himself mercilessly bullied by a small group of students led by Nathan Whitehawk. Despite many complaints to the Headmaster, Peter quickly realized those in authority were powerless. Whitehawk followed Peter to high school, escalating the torment. After one brutal assault that left Peter stripped naked and without his clothes, he reached his breaking point. On the verge of taking his own life, a mysterious man appeared, befriending Peter. This new confidant revealed himself as a Doctor of the Occult who coached Peter on exacting revenge upon Whitehawk and his gang. Peter proved a quick study, soon acquiring mystical abilities to turn the tables. Before long, a series of uncanny events left Whitehawk’s gang bewildered as the school erupted with laughter. Though transformation came at a cost, Peter found himself empowered to face once unimaginable threats.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Mar 28, 2024
• ISBN: 9781528998512

Murray Jesson

The author to this book was born in Scotland where he left school at 16 years of age. He worked in a Garden Nursery for two years before being called into the Royal Air Force for his National Service. He quickly became the camp team soccer coach where his team won everything there was to win. On demob he joined the London Metropolitan Police. On retiring after 25 years with his four children and wife, he emigrated to New Zealand where he became a Private Investigator with that country’s largest security company. After two years the whole family moved again where he was offered a job as National Loss Prevention Director for a large retail company. He formed and ran a Phantom Shoppers Company until he joined Queensland Soccer.

Book preview

About the Author

The author to this book was born in Scotland where he left school at 16 years of age. He worked in a Garden Nursery for two years before being called into the Royal Air Force for his National Service. He quickly became the camp team soccer coach where his team won everything there was to win. On demob he joined the London Metropolitan Police. On retiring after 25 years with his four children and wife, he emigrated to New Zealand where he became a Private Investigator with that country’s largest security company. After two years the whole family moved again where he was offered a job as National Loss Prevention Director for a large retail company. He formed and ran a Phantom Shoppers Company until he joined Queensland Soccer.

Dedication

There is no doubt my Granddaughter, Jennifer, inspired me to write this book because of the many incidents of bullying she had to suffer.

Copyright Information ©

Murray Jesson 2024

The right of Murray Jesson to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781528998499 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781528998505 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781528998512 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2024

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Foreword

The insidious act of bullying at school is by far more prevalent than anyone within the school educational system can imagine or should accept.

There are many facets of bullying which encompass (i) Physical (II) Verbal (iii) Relational (emotional) iv) Cyber (v) (Sexual and (vi) Prejudicial.

Each of the above can be a major problem on their own for the person being subjected to the bullying, but it can lead to others being activated. So little is being done in the majority of schools, all levels of school society to stop bullying which is so emotionally draining to the individual being bullied. We are breeding a generation of young people whose self-esteem is being shot to pieces before they have a chance to enter the big wide world. Conversely, we are breeding generations of aggressive bullies, male and female, who will carry their bullying attitudes into their life in the workforce which, in turn, could lead to all sorts of serious scenarios.

This book is essentially fictional but much of the bullying and aggression described actually happened within the school systems somewhere. The exceptions in the content being in the fictional part where magic was introduced in order to frighten and deter the bullies.

The admiration I have for the young people who talked sincerely and honestly about the hurt and degradation they suffered knows no bounds.

The saddest and most disturbing non-fictional part of this book is the way discipline has ceased to exist in the vast majority of the school systems. Those, to a great extent who have to shoulder the responsibility for the present situation are ‘do gooders’, ‘the legal profession’, ‘judges’, sadly even some ‘police officers’, but especially ’politicians’ who are not interested in anything radicle if there is not a vote in it for them. All of the aforementioned simply bury their heads in the sand because the subject is just too hard.

The fact that statistically bullying is the root cause of young people taking their own life is brushed aside by the very administrative people who can ‘make a difference’. It is also a major cause of truancy and absence from school supposedly ‘sick’. What is just as worrying is the number of assaults, verbal and physical, by students on teachers which is on the increase and is the main reason well-meaning teachers are opting out.

If ever it was time to create a nationwide anti-bullying program for every level of schooling to counteract bullying, it is now.

Too many students and good teachers are at the very end of their tether and they will be lost to the Educational System unless ‘bullying’ is tackled sensibly and professionally NOW.

Chapter 1

The school library was a place where it was usually quiet and Peter liked it that way because it allowed him to study any subject he required for class or, he was happy to just sit and read, which was what he was doing at this time. He loved reading about history and what happened hundreds of years ago when great battles were fought on the fields of Europe and whole generations of men, real human beings, were cut down, and regrettably sacrificed for far too many obscure reasons. History of this nature was never taught in schools under the current educational system, because History was not considered a vital academic subject. Peter felt otherwise because he knew there was so much to know, so much to learn about the world and he so enjoyed researching all the books on history in the library, so he spent as much time as possible there.

Peter had always been a good reader from about the age of seven and whilst in his early years all he read was comic books, some sporting books, he quickly graduated to more serious literature, especially historical books where he began to appreciate there was a huge big wide world out there.

At 15 years of age Peter High could be said to be a very intelligent boy. He loved to read and learn things, and he knew at school his mind was not being extended enough to suit his intellectual capacity of wanting and needing to know. He felt that in many instances schooling appeared inhibiting and unfulfilling because the academic subjects he was offered were not what he was essentially interested in. Inwardly he knew that Mathematics of some sort had to be learned and all aspects of English would be vital for his future and he wanted a future in spite of all his problems which had been building against him for many years.

For fifteen years of age, he was not a tall boy, about 168cm as there certainly was not much meat on him, he could be described as a slip of a boy. In recent years he had worn spectacles and this enhanced his intellectual look, and coupled with his narrow pale face and soft ‘peaches and cream’ complexion, he looked exactly what he was – a studious boy. Some people at school had christened him ‘The Nerd’, whatever that meant, but the title did not worry Peter unduly. He had large intelligent eyes where the iris was a bright sparkling blue and against the pure white of the sclera the natural blueness was accentuated.

He had very dark-brown unruly hair cut in the modern style, which almost looked as though he had just got out of bed. He had quite heavy dark eyebrows which almost met in the middle of the bridge of his nose, his lips were pretty average bordering on full lips and they were shown to best advantage when he smiled, showing a perfectly formed set of even and clean teeth.

Yes, Peter was studious. He spoke clearly and quietly in, what could best be termed, an educated voice where slang or foul words never passed his lips. This was a conscious decision he had made with his mum’s prompting when she had stressed that only kids and adults with a limited vocabulary swore and if you swore, it just brought you down to the level of the others. So young Peter had accepted his mum’s argument and he just never allowed himself to use foul language.

Unfortunately, he was never entirely happy in school, the exception being when he was in the school library which he used on every possible occasion. He found school difficult because so often he was subjected to the scourge of modern schooling – bullying, verbal and, just lately, physical, albeit fairly minor in the great scheme of things. However, he could never get away from the fact that he was the subject of constant harassment, always by a certain section of boys, some in his own class, but there were also others who just liked to tag along if there was the possibility of a ‘fight’ brewing. What hurt Peter more than anything was the fact that in spite of being reported to teachers and even the various headmasters over the years, these bully boys never seemed to be punished or have any come back on them when they appeared before headmasters.

Peter’s mum often talked to him about right and wrong. She had to carry this responsibility because Peter had never known a dad and his mum thought it was her responsibility as a loving parent to talk sensibly to Peter about smoking and what it could do to your body and your mind in the immediate future, and especially in the years to come where regrets at having started smoking are mostly too late to rectify. She spoke to him about what alcohol and drugs can do to ruin not just your body but your life and they often talked about peer group pressure where the individual had to be strong and not be swayed by others. She had never said that his dad had been an alcoholic, although Peter had probably guessed, and known, that something like that had been the downfall of his real dad. He was never told by his mum how alcohol had ravished his dad’s body until he eventually walked out of their lives never to be seen again.

In modern times the sad trend for so many young people were to experiment with drugs and alcohol. Peter and his mum discussed many times and at length the problems associated with being a young person in the 21st century. Having so much temptation thrown at them from all quarters and his mum highlighted the harm which all drugs can do to a young person’s body and mind. His mum always emphasised the massive danger of just ‘trying’ one smoke or one pill because it always led to a second smoke or a pill and soon it would become an addiction which only escalated, it never ever reduced the craving. The two of them discussed the harm which all drugs could do to a young person’s mind and body, this included tobacco, alcohol as well as narcotic drugs. Peter, to his credit could never see the point in harming a perfectly healthy body in the way the argument was presented by his mum.

Yes, Peter was an intelligent boy and like most kids his age, drugs and other stimulants just did not interest him.

Now, in the quiet of the school library, he was reading about a period in history which scarred the world by taking generations of young lives, both men and women from so many countries. In a war the like of which had never been seen before, because this war was fought on land at sea and in the air. World War 2 fascinated Peter but he could never understand why the history and background of so many nations of the world, including his beloved Australia, appeared to be taboo subjects in the educational system. There was so much history to know and understand and only by reading and studying books in his school library did he remotely start to appreciate the dramatic times in history where Australians were involved. At the moment he was reading about the rise and rise of the German Dictator Adolph Hitler, who came to power in a Europe and Germany still recovering economically and physically from World War 1, where so many young men from all over the Commonwealth died pointlessly and how, at that time, Europe was trying to recover from the Great Economic Depression of the late 20’s and early 30’s. Yet this fanatic dictator, Hitler, came to power in a Germany apparently still with grand ideas of becoming a world super-power. It was clear to Peter that Germany’s Hitler was a great and convincing orator and he dominated every meeting of German workers and the general population which he attended and in so doing, he built up a huge following with talk of a new and powerful Germanic race of supermen where there would never be poverty again. He was reading how Hitler was also building up a huge sophisticated army, navy and air force which no other European country could match, or even want to match, after what had happened in the 1914 – 1918 war.

Peter was reading that Hitler was not a big man in stature but, at this point he was unceremoniously interrupted with some boy shouting…

OI…HIGH, YOU ARE WANTED IN THE SCIENCE LAB…NOW!

Peter was immediately roused from his historical reading and he brought himself back to reality when he heard his name being shouted by one of the junior boys.

Peter could not think why Mr. Cunningham, who was the Science teacher, would want to see him at lunch time, assuming it was that teacher who wanted him. But he thought he had better go even though there was still twenty minutes to go before classes were called to commence the afternoon lessons.

Peter got up and wrote in his note pad where he was up to in the history book he had been reading, he then replaced the books back on their respective shelves. Walking out of the single level library building he made his way over the grassed area towards the academic school classrooms. It was a beautiful day and Peter loved to inhale and enjoy the smells of the beds of flowers which surrounded all the grassed areas in his high school. He loved nature and the bright resplendent colours and perfumes which flowers could bring to one’s senses, but even as he walked his own little world, a part of his brain was alert and watching for some of the school bully boys who plagued his life, both within the grounds and sometimes away from school. Peter could never fully relax when he was alone and especially when he was within the confines of his school because he never seemed to be far away from verbal and sometimes even physical bullying from certain boys and one or two girls in his school. He loved school, but being targeted by these bullies who were really starting to get to him, fear and to a certain extent embarrassment was causing all sorts of stress both to him and his mum, because he rarely told her of the problems he was having at school.

By this time, he had reached the main building and as he walked along the corridor, he thought that everything was so unusually quiet, but it was lunch time and most of the pupils were outside eating their lunch or playing. Nevertheless, there seemed to be an unusual eerie silence about the place as he reached the Laboratory door of the class room he had been asked to attend.

As Peter opened the Laboratory classroom door and walked in, he was suddenly hit on the back of his head by something solid, and as he pitched forward on to his knees the pain struck his nervous system and he literally saw stars as he fell forward, hitting his head on the wooden Laboratory floor. He was unable to get his mind into gear in order to work out what had fallen on his head. Had he walked into something? Suddenly someone grabbed his arms and pushed him flat on the ground, just before his head hit the wooden floor a second time, he momentarily had a clear vision of Nathan Whitehawk. Then even with his partially numbed brain he knew that the bullies were attacking him again, only this time it was more vicious and violent than ever before.

He heard the Laboratory door being banged shut as he clearly made out the voices of, not just Whitehawk, but he also heard Moses Smith, Whitehawk’s brother Claude and Tommy Tilt. There was someone else standing further away but he could not see who it was as he struggled to clear his head. At that moment Peter had no idea why the person he was unable to focus on was standing away from the group and what sinister meaning his position had to the beating up he felt sure he was about to receive at the hands of Whitehawk and his small band of bullies. The true significance of this person would become abundantly clearer later in the day.

Peter managed to shout: Get off me, and he struggled with all his might to free himself but the bullies just laughed and shouted a string of obscenities as he felt his shirt being dragged off his back. He clearly remembered later he also heard the shirt being ripped and torn by someone. At that point the boys dragged him over so that he was lying on his back and Smith, Claude and Tilt were holding him down with firm grips on his arms and legs. Then Peter saw Joey Finch, and he knew this was Whitehawk’s entire gang who had tricked him. Fear gripped the muscles in his stomach because he knew these bullies were capable of anything. This made him struggle harder than ever and he tried so hard to shout or scream but no noise came from his mouth, he was so frightened. Then, part of his torn shirt, was stuffed into his mouth and he could hardly breathe let alone shout. Finch and Whitehawk then pulled his shoes off his feet and Peter struggled with every muscle in his puny body but he could do nothing against the might of the bully boys. Whitehawk spat on his face and he almost gagged as the spittle went up his nose and into his mouth where the stifling gag was in place. Whitehawk then slapped him hard across the face and this made Peter’s eyes water as his spectacles flew across the floor. It momentarily stunned him to such a degree that he blacked out. Almost at once the will to survive brought him back to consciousness and he again tried to jerk this way and that but the attacking boys held him firm as he felt Whitehawk and Smith drag his shorts down and off his feet, in spite of all his struggling there was nothing Peter could do. But at least now, he was able, even in his dazed and hazy state, to definitely identify who was all in the Science lab. Then he felt his boxers being pulled off and down his legs as the attackers laughed and someone shouted, Oh look at his f*** willy, hey it’s bigger than yours, Smithy. Peter was now crying not just at the seriousness of the assault but at the shame these boys were perpetrating on him.

Unfortunately, even worse was to come.

Chapter 2

Lying on the floor stunned and in complete shock, tears were running down his cheeks, he managed to lift his head in time to see Finch with a pair of scissors, leaning in towards his groin area as he snipped a considerable handful of pubic hair. All the bullies laughed at this as Finch went about cutting more and more pubic hair. In his haste he managed to stab Peter around his groin area and this brought blood, the bullies laughed and Peter tried to scream HELP!

Peter saw the bloodied scissors in his hand and he knew it was his blood. In deep shock he again felt his pubic hair being cut. He tried to rise up again on one elbow but he was being held too firmly. He struggled as hard as he could and when he managed to rise up, he looked down towards his groin area and saw most of his pubic hair had gone and there was blood coming from a cut or some break in his skin just near where his testicles were, the blood seeped out on to Peter’s thigh as he burst into convulsions of tears. He tried to shout again for help, the natural need for survival kicked into his befuddled brain and he knew he had to get out of this predicament or die in the attempt.

He heard Finch shout, Shall we cut his f*** prick off, This utterance gave him a strength he never knew he had and he finally managed to spit out the gag from his mouth, then he yelled at the very top of his voice, HELP ME – PLEASE HELP ME…HELP. It would appear that this yelling unnerved the bullies and Peter saw them pick up his clothes and laughing and shouting obscenities at him they all ran off out of the Laboratory.

Peter half sat up and realised he was totally naked and he quickly guessed the next class would be coming into the Science Laboratory very soon and the certainty of further terrible embarrassment which this would cause him. He struggled to a sitting position and he soon realized that Whitehawk and his horrible bullies had not left any of his school clothes, everything had gone including his shoes. Peter looked around the class room and saw his spectacles under a desk and he grabbed them and put them on at the same time seeing a door leading to a small room where much of the Lab glassware, books and liquids and crystals for carrying out experiments were kept. He prayed the door was unlocked as he struggled to his feet and staggered across to the door. He felt completely ashamed at his nakedness as the tears started to blur his vision but as he turned the handle to the store room, the door opened.

He sorts of staggered inside and closed the door. Peter stood there shivering with all his hurt emotions at full stretch as he noticed that the only light was coming from a small skylight in the ceiling. He looked around for something to cover his nakedness and again the full impact of what had just occurred to him hit him full on. His legs gave way and he knelt on the cold floor ashamed and full of sadness and fear as he wept. What was going to happen to him? What could he do? What would his mum say? This was the end of the line for him, he felt sure his life was now finished as he knew it. All the years of being bullied and picked on had caught up with him in this last final degrading act by Whitehawk and his horrible little vermin friends.

But then reality once again set in, if he stayed in this store room, the next science class would arrive and Mr. Cunningham would also arrive and find him cowering, naked, hurt, bleeding, ashamed and totally frightened out of his wits. He had to get away from here as he struggled up on to his feet and looked around the room for something to wear to hide his body, but all he could see was Mr Cunningham’s brown science overall coat. Peter grabbed it and put it on but of course it was far too big for him, so he wrapped it around his body and somehow, he felt as though he could make a run for it and get home and hide…He realised he had no options – he simply had to make a run for it, get away from school and not be seen by anyone. He looked at his watch and saw there was only five minutes until the siren went for the students to return to the classes and without further thought, in his bare feet, he slipped out of the store room, crossed between the rows of double wooden desks and slid the Science Lab. He opened the door and looked out, thank heavens there was no one to be seen in the corridor. He looked down his leg and saw blood running down his right leg. He realized it was more than just a trickle but he had to keep going, to get away from the school and his bullies.

He now had no real decision to make, it was run or face terrible humiliation in front of a class of pupils who would obviously know him, so he ran. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him down the corridor towards the rear door which led out to the rear playground where, at that time of day, no pupils or teachers would be around because it was so close to bell time, they would all be mustering for the start of afternoon classes. His bare feet made no sound as he ran out of the exit door, with the teacher’s coat flying in all directions he never realized he was bare right up to his crutch as he ran. Tears flowed down his face but he realised speed was essential in order to get out of the school precincts and get well away from the immediate area and his dreadful predicament.

He dashed through the teachers’ car park, totally oblivious to the stoney surface in the car park on his bare feet, and in a flash he was out of the gate and running along the footpath towards his home.

At this moment Nathan Whitehawk and his cronies were in class and in suppressed hysterics of laughter because of two very awful reasons. Tommy Tilt had handfuls of Peter High’s pubic hair and he kept sprinkling some of it on the school books of his mates and showing it to some of the girls in class but, far more serious, Joey Finch was telling the class how he had recorded all the incidents on his mobile phone. He boasted he had recorded everything that had happened moments earlier. Amid great laughter all the bullies laughed loudly as Tilt showed on his mobile screen showing the others Peter’s naked body and how all the pubic hair had been cut off. The camera also showed Tilt holding up the victim’s private part as though he was going to cut it off. Tilt then said he was going to put all of the film on ‘Facebook’ as soon as he got home and everyone could have a good laugh.

What the stupid bullies did not think about was, if or when this smut was posted on the Internet it would clearly identify, not just Peter High but it would identify all the bullies in this serious assault. This was indeed a serious sexual assault. But in their sick euphoric minds all the gang thought about was how funny, the entire sequel of events had been. When the girls eventually heard the story, they soon realised Peter was not in class, and they began to feel very concerned for a boy they all liked. Where was he? Naturally no one said anything to the teacher when she asked where young High was.

At that moment Peter was running as fast as his legs could carry him towards home. He cut a ridiculous figure as he kept Mr. Cunningham’s overall coat well wrapped as tight as possible around him as he ran for all he was worth. He was wracked with sobs, shame, anger, fear, humiliation, hopelessness. He felt so inadequate and useless, not just because he had been stripped naked in front of these bullies but it was as much about his inability to fight back, this was something which had gone on almost all through his school life and he was never able to do anything about it. What would his mum say, and maybe worse what would she do now? What would he do?

At that point Peter, naturally, had no idea of the threat by Finch to post the assault on Facebook which would show all the gross humiliation he had endured.

As he ran like the wind through the streets, he, thankfully, only saw three people, he was going so fast, and he cut such a ridiculous figure, he never saw their quizzical looks as they noticed this apparition fly past them.

As soon as he reached the front door of his house, he retrieved the hidden key and inserted it in the lock of his door, then on opening the door he literally fell into the hallway, a shattered massively hurt boy. He closed the door with his bare foot and lay in the foetal position and cried like a baby as his body shook with the emotion of all the trauma.

He felt all the emotions of not just the past number of minutes but how his life appeared to have been violated over such a long festering period of time and it really began to sink deep into his mind. He lay there crying, mentally hurt beyond words and physically hurt he thought back on his school life…

Chapter 3

Peter recalled all the taunts and nasty things, which were said to him whilst in the Junior school but he had never even heard of the word ‘bullying’ and Peter just thought it was part and parcel of being at school. He recalled many of the comments which were said to him and they hurt a small sensitive boy like Peter but he tried to ignore the rhetoric, because this was the advice his mum had given him, Sticks and stones will break your bones but names will never hurt you, although, it has to be said, she never knew the full extent of the problem or the hurt which Peter felt on a daily basis.

As much as possible, he always kept his school problems from his mum because he thought she would either think of him as a wimp or she would make a fuss and go to the school Principal who would then ensure the entire school knew of the supposed bullying and who was involved. Peter thought, if that scenario happened, he would be targeted by the tormentors.

What he did not appreciate, as so many victims of bullying don’t appreciate, he would not necessarily be dobbing to get the bully into trouble, what he was asking for was support just to be safe. But at aged ten or eleven why would a boy like Peter understand such logic.

Another aspect which appeared to play into the hands of the bullies was Peter’s propensity to want to learn and he was undoubtedly a very bright boy during his time through junior school. He liked lessons and wanted to listen to the teacher, he quickly learned to read at a fairly high level and he appreciated and developed his reading abilities. He loved visiting the school library, although it was a fairly low-key level of books which were stocked there, but what was there, most of them were the type of books he wanted to read. This enabled him to read and learn as much as possible, especially about the Geography and History of the world – subjects he was intensely interested in.

He never understood or even thought about the impact his personal urge for knowledge would have in the class, especially amongst a minority of class members who were not as academically sound as he was, of course most of them did not want to be academically sound anyhow, especially the arch bully of the class and of the school – boys called Whitehawk, Nathan Whitehawk. Whitehawk was the prime, constant bully and antagonist, not just to Peter but to others in the school as well. Because Peter was bright and keen to learn he was always the first student to put his hand up when the teacher asked a question. He was not always correct, but he tried and he tried hard and this apparently created a form of jealousy amongst the minority group consisting solely of boys.

During his junior school years, he managed the problems associated with name calling and other minor aspects of bullying by Whitehawk but when he moved to the senior school, he was unfortunate to see Whitehawk and some of his bullying friends move with him into the same class because they were all about equal age.

The first time he ever saw and began to understand the inequities of life at school was when a boy called Robert in his High school class was always getting into trouble from the teachers because he apparently could not sit still. Robert told the teacher that some boys, including Whitehawk, kept prodding him with a ruler when the teacher’s back was turned, or they would push him off his seat or they would remove some of his belongings and do other things to annoy Robert when his back was turned. He was understandably nervous about what might happen to him next, so he had to keep looking around and moving. Of course, as always with teachers, they did not believe the excuses for his strange behavior, and eventually he was sent to the principal. Apparently, he gave the headmaster the same explanation he had given to the teacher, again he was not believed and the headmaster gave the boy six of the best on his hands with his strap for wasting class time. Young Robert told Peter what had happened and both boys realised their word was never going to be satisfactory to those in authority, whether it be teachers or principals. So, the culture of the bully was allowed to manifest itself. Is this not the same in all schools?

Peter quickly realized, as per usual with teachers, school Principals and school authorities in general, there was never two sides to every story and the powers that be immediately and unreservedly believed the teachers version and any pupil who rocked the boat by complaining, especially about bullying, would always be wrong. The boys quickly learned there would never be any investigations on allegations of bullying because the authorities appeared to be defensive of their authority, and bullying, in effect, challenged this authority. The culprit therefore would never be punished and so the cult of bullying flourished.

In Robert’s case a letter was sent to his mum informing her that he was a nuisance in class and he constantly complained and lied about obscure situations which, they believed, was imagination. The letter also had the temerity to ask Robert’s mum to immediately discipline her son, or the school would be forced to take unfortunate action. What that ‘action’ was to be was never explained. The teacher however moved Robert to another part of the class room near Peter. So, although Robert was never the instigator, he became known amongst teaching staff as one pupil who caused disruption in the class environment. In other words – a trouble maker. Of course, this was totally wrong but teachers and those in authority constantly and consistently never believed a pupil because they thought that person had a hidden agenda. How it could be anticipated by supposedly educated adults that a boy of 13 or 14 had a hidden agenda is hard to understand.

Peter and Robert started to become friends and this created more fodder for the bully boys who targeted the two young boys with disgusting profanities and name calling like…they were ‘poofters’, they were called ‘the shit twins’, ‘teachers’ pets’, ‘f*** wits’, ‘ass holes’ and all sorts of disgusting and insulting names. At one time there was writing in felt pen all over the boys’ toilet walls saying, Peter and Robert are gay, and they had to put up with other boys and girls asking them if they were really gay. There were other accusations like, they were teachers’ pets, or they did drugs or/and sold drugs, that they stole things and sold them to other students, all the accusations were utter lies of course and, to their great credit, both boys managed to ignore the taunts most of the time, but not all of the time. Gradually the stress and mental torture on both Robert and Peter began to tell and it showed in their school academic performance.

The boys always enjoyed long conversations because they liked each other’s company, and Robert admitted what had always been missing in his life was no one ever showed any affection towards him and he just thought no one really loved him. Apparently in the last few years he had never even received a hug from his mum, and as for kissing his mum he almost did not know the meaning of such an action. Like Peter he had no dad, or at least again like Peter, he had never known his dad. On the times when he heard, and sometimes saw, the hugs and kisses that other pupil of his own age group received from their parents, perhaps at the school gate when the students were dropped off by car or when they were met again after school, it hurt him immensely and somehow he felt totally inadequate in that he believed he was not wanted by his mum. He never knew the loving niceties other young people of his age group appeared to get from their parents. All this coupled with the verbal and sometimes physical bullying at school made for an extremely unhappy Robert.

Peter felt a close affinity with Robert and on one occasion when they were having a long conversation in the school library, Peter was talking about the genuine love he received from his mum, Robbie burst into tears. Peter put his arms around Robert and let him have a good weep, thankful this embrace would not be seen by the bully boys because both boys knew it would only bring more derision and nastiness from them. Peter told Robert how he and his mum often had long talks about school, friends, living a good life, the temptations which modern living brought to young people, in fact everything. Peter said he seldom held anything back from his mum and he felt he could talk about most things to her. Robert said his mum never talked to him like that and there were so many things he wanted to know about life, about growing up and going into puberty but he knew she never had time or she would steer his questions away in some way in order to dodge the issue.

All of this was almost too much for Robbie because of his complete lack of any affection from those closest to him at home and he started sobbing again. From that moment both boys realised they both bathed in a common denominator in that they liked each other immensely even if they were essentially loners. They became the best of friends and Robert started to find an inner peace and happiness with Peter which he had never known before, finding this soul-mate and buddy truly enriched his life in spite of everything. He started visiting Peter’s house, he even had meals there and occasionally they would have sleepovers which Robert so enjoyed because of the ever-deepening friendship and the in-depth personal discussions he had with Peter in the privacy of their bedroom. He learned more about the complexities of puberty and sexual matters in relation to a boy growing up with all the complications happening in his body. In some respects, Peter was just as worldly ignorant but between them both boys bonded and worked things out for themselves.

They quickly found out, that their academic studies started to magically improve apparently because they had found a true friendship and this gave them the incentive and motivation to study and, more importantly, to enjoy studying. It proved to Robert, and Peter, the value in having a close friend who respected and loved you in the nicest possible way.

For Peter the bullying, or as he thought at the time, ‘horseplay by undisciplined boys’, nearly always took a verbal approach…name calling and using insulting words, but there were other instances of physical contact, perhaps occasionally being tripped by the main antagonist, Whitehawk, when walking in the corridors, or when Whitehawk and his mates would grab his school bag and tip the contents on the ground and then kick them all around the floor. It certainly appeared to Peter these sorts of tactics appeared to be escalating. The leader of the pack was always the same boy, Nathan Whitehawk, he was sort of half Islander and it was said his parents were continually fighting and the father was constantly out of his mind from too much alcohol. Academically Whitehawk was as thick as two plank boards and Peter always thought that his problem was jealousy in that Peter appeared bright and well-read as distinct from the other boy’s obvious scholastic inadequacies. In other words, deep down, he was clearly and manifestly envious of young Master High.

Because Peter remained friendly