This was teacher bullying and the students caught between a rock and a hard place.

It was also principal bullying because he did nothing, hence my quote.

What I should have done was return her to her old school, but I was a wreck.

She spent the summer before high school, alone, save for the children of friends, then one term in her local Catholic high school, then begged to go to a school on the other side of the city where she could start afresh. She never looked back. Had I chosen her friendship group, I couldn't have done better.

Bullying is rife, and we need to teach students to recognise it and at the very least, reach out to a trusted adult and report it.

This was hard to write Rebecca, and I know that had she had siblings, the story would have played out so differently.

Thanks for weighing in, Rebecca. Are you and your brother friends these days?