A boy in the United Kingdom was nearly blinded after a bully allegedly punched him in the face, causing his glasses to smash into his eyelid.
The father of the teen, Nathaniel Dryden, said his son might be scarred for life after the assault.
Father Michael Dryden stated: “The school rang me to say that Nathaniel had been punched and was bleeding. When I saw what happened, I couldn’t believe that someone could do that to my son.”
Dryden said the doctor said his son would need more than a dozen stitches in his face, saying they ”pulled out a shard of glass.”
“He’s such a quiet and timid boy and I don’t know why he warrants this abuse that he gets from a group of students at the school,” he said. “He’s doing well now, but he’s not going back to school until the end of the term. He feels frightened to go back and unsafe.”
His mother, Amanda, also issued a comment on the incident, calling out bullies.
“Bullying is not acceptable by any means. You will not hurt my son anymore and I am so proud of you Nathaniel,” she wrote. ”You have come out bigger and better than any of these idiots and you are so strong. We love you so much mate.”
The teen’s parents said that he has suffered “years” of abuse at the hands of bullies at Merill Academy, including an incident on Jan. 25 where he was punched twice by another student a the school.
Dryden said the bullies filmed the alleged attack and posted it on social media. But the parents said the school didn’t tell him, and they had to confront school officials about the matter after viewing the footage.
“I went down to school and asked why I was not made aware of what happened. I was absolutely mad,” the father said.
“How can this have happened to my son and I was not made aware of it?” he asked. “Little did I know that another vicious attack was going to happen.”
Dryden said that while the school has been supportive and “absolutely great,” he is “concerned with the level of care and safety” there.
A spokesperson with Derbyshire Police confirmed an investigation was opened into the alleged attack.
He said that such “incidents are rare at the school, and this one has been dealt with under the school’s behavior policy with parents kept fully informed of the outcomes.”
Bullying in the United States
According to Stop Bullying, a government group, 28 percent of students in the United States have experienced bullying while 70 percent of youth have seen bullying at school. Some 30 percent of respondents admitted to bullying in surveys, the group said. In one study, about 49 percent of students in grades 4 through 12 reported being bullied by other students at school at least once during the previous month.“The most common types of bullying are verbal and social. Physical bullying happens less often. Cyberbullying happens the least frequently,” the group stated. “Most bullying takes place in school, outside on school grounds, and on the school bus. Bullying also happens wherever kids gather in the community. And of course, cyberbullying occurs on cell phones and online.”
The relationship between bullying and suicide is complex, according to Stop Bullying.
While the vast majority of young people who are bullied don’t commit or attempt suicide, Stop Bullying said, “research indicates that persistent bullying can lead to or worsen feelings of isolation, rejection, exclusion, and despair, as well as depression and anxiety, which can contribute to suicidal behavior.”
