i am sparticus: The Traumatising of Mark Walley

The Traumatising of Mark Walley

Today as part of my ever confusing training to become a fully qualified youth worker, we looked at 'where morals come from'. We had to start by thinking of situation where in the 'days of our youth'™ we either did something and got away with it and then felt we shouldn't have had, or got told off for something that we didn't do.
Thinking back, I couldn't really think of anything that traumatic. I mean, there were small minor things, but nothing that really stood out. Then, it all came flooding back to me. The great injustice of year five.
You see, there used to be a boy called Mike (well, that wasn't his real name but it'll do) and poor Mike was very bullied. He was in year four as I remember, and nobody ever seemed to want to stick up for him. If ever someone was oppressed, it was he. Now, I too got a fair amount of torment off certain people, but nowhere near the level that poor old Mike got. So anyway, being a moderately bullied ten year old boy, I sucummbed to social pressure of kicking downward. Not regularly, or even particularly hard, but occasionally I'd see the opportunity to vent my frustration.

Anyway, one day Mike obviously had enough. He went to a teacher, and said that he was being bullied. The teacher forwarded him to the headmaster where upon he laid the blame for every single act of bullying ever committed against him on me. He did not mention any of the year sixes who bullied him, he did not mention any of the year threes that bullied him, he failed to mention the entirety of years four and five.

So I was called into the headmaster's office, told off for my terrible behaviour and warned that if it did not stop, there would be terrible consequences. My year teacher then looked hard at me, turned to the headmaster and said 'and this was the boy who was complaining about being bullied'.

Near tears, I was sent back out to play, whereupon Mike came up to me and apologised for blaming me, saying that he was afraid of getting anyone else into trouble. Before I had the chance to hit him (and I'm not saying that would have been the right thing to do, but I was ten) my year teacher came outside and said 'shouldn't you be playing somewhere else Mark?'. And so the rest of the week was spent avoding Mike for fear of being told off, and avoiding everyone else for fear of being teased because Mike made me cry. It's a wonder I'm the responsible member of society that am I.

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