A South African mother in Co Meath who says her 10-year-old son is being racially abused on a daily basis has called for action on what she describes as months of bullying.
Speaking to Metro Éireann after her family issued an open letter to highlight their situation, Liza Dalton – who is married to Irishman Gerry – said she would accept any help to bring an end to their plight.
In the letter, the Daltons explain how the family relocated to Kells in June 2010 “following a brutal family murder and ongoing violence in South African society”.
Their problems in Ireland, they write, began in September last year when their 10-year-old son moved to a new school – named in the Irish Examiner as St Colmcille’s National School – following alleged racial bullying he experienced at his previous school in Co Meath.
The following month, they say their son informed her and her husband of “organised fights [against him] at break time” and that he was “being teased over his accent”.
According to the Daltons, the issue was reported to the school principal, who “vehemently” denied any such incidents were occurring.
“He also encouraged our son not to be a tattle-tale after we brought up other issues which came to light,” they add, saying this was in an effort to improve his chances of making friends “and not be seen as a rat”.
The Daltons say the racial intimidation continued in Nov-ember, when their 10-year-old was injured after an “accidental” clash of heads during PE class. According to their letter, the boy was taken to Cavan Hospital A&E where he was “diagnosed with severe concussion” and later suffered headaches and double vision at home for a number of days.
The following month brought the intimidation closer to home, say the couple, who allege a group of boys involved in the bullying – “some of whom live in the same estate” – played ‘knick knacks’ on their front door and stole Christmas decorations from their porch.
Come January this year, the Daltons say things escalated to the point where the family “found tyres on our car deflated”. Upon notifying gardaí and the school principal, they were advised by the latter to “install a CCTV system and come back to him with proof”.
On 25 February, Liza and Gerry say the boys – described as being aged from 10 to 11 – attacked the family home with oranges.
Gardaí did not respond to the family’s call as they were “busy with road blocks [and had] no cars available,” she says, adding that the same gang of boys returned later to pelt the house and driveway with eggs.
Other local children friendly to the family supplied them with the name of one of the group, write the Daltons, who then relayed it to gardaí. But according to another pupil at the school, who she says confirms the bullying against her child, the alleged bully was “bragging in the playground… that he got away with the egging and [was] coming back for our car.
“Most disturbingly, the boy who was in the ‘accidental’ head clash causing our son concussion has been bragging that he deliberately head-butted our son, and also got away with it.”
The family say they are frustrated at the perceived lack of action on the part of the school principal. They describe the series of complaints made by the family to the school board, the Department of Education and the HSE as “a brilliant case of buck passing… and still no one is intervening on our behalf.”
According to the Daltons, gardaí have told her that as the boys in question are under 12 they are under the age of criminal responsibility “and they can do nothing about the situation”.
Even worse, the couple say they were themselves “threatened with arrest” when they refused an attempt by a Garda officer to formally caution their 16-year-old son, following claims that he had “threatened and verbally abused” one of the alleged bullies.
Gerry Dalton says he is now home-schooling his son over what he described as the school’s refusal to “take a stand”.
The Department of Education had not replied to a request for comment at press time.
