My son started school as a bubbly, sociable and inquisitive child. But in P3, aged seven, he withdrew from the world, tried to quit his favourite sports and refused to read or participate in learning.
A deputy head identified psychological bullying as the cause but the overwhelming pressure on the school system resulted in nothing being done and our son was left to fend for himself. At the age of eight, when he was in P4, he became non-verbal in school — and then we were unexpectedly saved by Covid.
Lockdown gave us space to unravel what was going on. The resulting journey to full recovery was a two-year rollercoaster that laid bare the devastating shortcomings of restorative practice.
