Bullied and traumatised: the story of a Delhi schoolboy

The victim, Lakshya Sharma, is a student of class VIII at South Delhi Public School in Defence Colony. His extreme step resulted out of a series of bullying episodes he encountered at school.

The epidemic of bullying impedes thousands of teenagers from taking a rosy view of their second home. However, it’s not just the kids that are on the receiving end; bullying also leaves parents and teachers perturbed.

Jyoti Sharma is one such mother who is unable to contain her emotions seeing her son agonized--mentally and psychologically. Lakshya always stood tall in the face of their expectations and was reportedly a meritorious student. Unfortunately, things started taking a wrong turn when Lakshya was promoted to Class VIII. He became a target of relentless bullying.

Jyoti used to pay the school canteen to ensure fresh food supplies for her son’s lunch. Three of Lakshya's classmates began pestering him and demanded that he procure food for them as well, to which he did not accede. Following an initial phase of browbeating, they allegedly beat the boy up.

This went on for days, but an intimidated Lakshya spoke not one word about it at home. Until his mother got a rude shock when asked to foot a huge bill last December.

"I asked Lakshya about this but he didn't answer any of my questions. Then I noticed a drastic change in his behaviour. I felt that something wrong was happening to him. Finally one day he told me that three of his classmates were are also having food and making him foot the bill. On January 14 three of his classmates attacked Lakshya at our home. He was alone at the time. As I reached home I saw three of them bullying Lakshya and he was crying. I took all of them to the school and complained against them," said a pained Jyoti.

Mrs. Sharma immediately complained to the school and the accused were promptly suspended. However, Laksha had already started experiencing severe bouts of depression. But the most horrifying thing took place when he injured himself with a blade. At this, his mother intimated the school authorities and lodged yet another complaint.

"I asked the school to look into the matter. The administration decided to ask Lakshya to sit alone on a seat. But this did not help," Jyoti added.

Seeing no other way, Lakshya's parents consulted an NGO, All India Youth Foundation, which commenced counseling for the boy and agreed to bear all his responsibilities, including financial expenditures.

"Lakshya has failed in his class and he still hides under his bed out of fear at night. We have sent him for counselling and we are also helping him with a Psychiatrist," said Pawan Manuja, district president, All India Youth Federation.

Dr. Ajay Pal, a psychologist at Max Hospital was contacted for comment. According to him, unlike yesteryears, youngsters now-a-days are highly sensitive and vulnerable to depression. He stressed on the necessity of counseling long before danger waves its signal.

"This behaviour is very common in students of this age group but these are curable problems. Proper counselling and professional treatment will sort out such issues. Parents and teachers have a big role to play as the number of such cases among students is increasing day by day," he said.

According to a statement given to the MiD DAY, principal Urmila Rawat adds, “The boy's parents had reported the matter very late. We have tried to help them as much as possible, even going out of our way on occasions. We will meet the child again and try to sort out the issues."

The incident has been published in an online report of NDTV.

Causes and forms of bullying
Bullying is characterized as a form of violence, which may be social or physical in nature. Associated techniques may be physical, verbal, or even emotional.

Bullying in school, more often than not, involves a group of students overriding an isolated student and gaining the loyalty of bystanders. These bullies taunt and tease their target before setting off physically. Targets of bullying are mostly pupils who are considered unusual by their peers, making the situation harder for them to cope with.

While several factors contribute to children getting pestered, the chief ones include one’s appearance and social status. Bullies often choose those with uncommon looks or of withdrawn nature or belonging to different race or religion.

Physical bullying may range from shoving or tripping to punching or hitting. In certain cases, even hints of sexual assault have also been observed. Physical bullying is often accompanied with verbal insults and physiological extortion.

The effects of bullying
Victims get shadowed by a lack of confidence, resulting in low self esteem. While most children can take one episode of teasing or name calling, recurrent bullying eventually takes its toll. It is likely to put someone in a state of constant fear.

Bullied kids often find their schoolwork and health suffering. Studies have also shown that children abused by their peers are at a higher risk of mental health problems. While some children suffer from extreme bouts of stress, depression, or sleep deprivation, in some acute cases, suicidal tendencies have also been observed.