Scots mum says daughter 'let down' after report clears school of bullying culture
dailyrecord.co.ukThe mother of a teenager who wrote an open letter to her school accusing it of being "rife" with bigotry and misconduct accused the local council of failing youngsters, after it dismissed claims of a toxic environment for pupils.
Kristie De Garis says her daughter Anna has been left "devastated, exhausted and feeling incredibly let down" after bosses at Perth and Kinross Council concluded there was "no prevailing culture of bullying or harassment" at Crieff High.
She added that her daughter had been branded a "liar" by classmates after the report was released. Anna, a fifth-year pupil at the school, had written an open letter two months ago in which she claimed pupils were regularly the subject of racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia. "All this report can tell us [is] that straight, white, cis-gendered people do not experience homophobia, racism or transphobia or think there is a culture of discrimination within our school," Kristie said in a statement. "The children who actually experience [this] seem to have been ignored."We should be listening to children like Anna, not releasing reports that state their 'accusations' of a culture of discrimination cannot be backed by evidence."What a careless and dangerous statement to make."She added: "Sadly, through this report I feel [Anna] and her peers have again been let down by the adults tasked with protecting and supporting them."Anna released the bombshell letter at the start of February.
In it, she said peers were "scared to speak up" about bigotry at the hands of pupils and teachers amid fears of being bullied further.A survey she conducted among almost 15% of the school roll found that three-quarters had witnessed racism, homophobia and sexism.
