Teenager suffers 'happy slapping'

A SCHOOLBOY says he feels like he has nowhere to turn to after suffering from constant bullying since he started secondary school.The teenager says he has twice been photographed while being beaten up, a craze known as 'happy slapping', and even had death threats shouted at him from outside his home, simply because he is good at his studies.The boy, who attends Wyvern Community School in Weston, does not want to be named because he fears he could become even more of a target.His mother says she does not blame Wyvern and says the school has done as much as it can. She believes the problem is the nature of today's society.The boy suffers from a neurological condition but his mother does not understand why that should mean he should become a target.She said: "My son is very keen on his studies, especially maths and science. About 40 or 50 years ago he would have been the perfect student and the envy of his peers."But it is because he is so education-orientated he is being bullied. It is a real sign of the times."Wyvern has been very supportive, but I find it hard to accept that a person may not survive because they are so brilliant."We have thought about moving schools but at the end of the day I can't imagine it would help because there are bullies in all schools."The school says because of the pupil's condition it has to deal with incidents differently and tries as much as it can to help him.Wyvern headteacher Andrew Russell said: "We have a teaching and learning centre where children can go at lunch and break times. It's a quiet place for them to go and sit with the teaching assistants."The happy slapping incident was dealt with quickly and we took it extremely seriously. I believe the death threats have been reported to the police."The pupil in question does not deal with break and lunch times well, so we have set procedures to help him."Bullying goes on and we deal with it every time we hear about it, but we do need to hear about it.