Mothers set up group to beat bullying in schools

Three mothers have joined forces to speak out against bullying in schools, with one of them demanding the resignation of an assistant head who she claims intimidated her daughter by calling her a “silly little girl”. Sylvana Brannon, Valerie Brincat and Dianne Vella Gregory felt they should speak up to raise awareness that treating children disrespectfully should not be tolerated. Ms Brannon set up a closed Facebook anti-bullying group – called Mothers Against Violence in Schools – after her eight-year-old daughter felt bullied by one of the two assistant heads at her school. Eva started going home after school in a bad mood and would cry for no reason, Ms Brannon said of her daughter. She eventually told her mother she was being bullied by a student. Her mother called a meeting with the government school her daughter attends. The assistant head, who was present for the meeting, said she would look into the bullying. Later that day, the assistant head complained to Ms Brannon that Eva was not doing her homework. Mr Brannon argued this was a poss-ible symptom of the bullying. Then, a few days later, Eva was called into the assistant head’s office again for a telling off for not...