A dad has been left "heartbroken" after his son came home from school with tally marks on his hand for every time he was bullied. Matthew Beard noticed the marks on his son's hand just over a week after he started high school.
When he asked what they were, the schoolboy explained that they were a record of every time he had been either physically or verbally abused by classmates in the last two days. Matthew has since shared a photo of his son's hand, which had 21 marks, to Twitter as a warning to other parents, Birmingham Live reports.
The dad, from London, wrote: "My son has been at high school for just over a week. On his hand here he’s made a record of how many times in the last two days he has been bullied, verbally or physically. In total 21. It’s heartbreaking.
"Schools need to come down harder on bullies, their parents should be fined." He added: "He wanted to show us how often it’s happened in two days of school. You just don’t know what goes on & you expect you kids to be safe at school. I’m sure it will all sort itself out."
Hundreds of people have rushed to reply. Jo said: "By talking about it with you he's already jumped the first biggest hurdle which many don't. Let's hope the school will do something about it! Lots of love and positive energy for Harry."
Lily said: "I’m a teacher Matt and when I worked in schools you wouldn’t believe how much it happens. More often or not your HOD or safeguarding leads know, yet they themselves are scared of the culprits.
"More needs to be done and now! Makes my blood boil."
Philippa said: "That’s awful Matt. I hope he is doing ok. Surviving school feels like one of my biggest achievements.
"They don’t do enough about it and far too often suggest the victim changes so they don’t get bullied. They need to punish the bullies and stamp it out!."
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