Dear Concerned Parents,

My son (J) was recently punched in the face and stomach by [REDACTED] in his class [REDACTED]. These attacks were unprovoked and have left my son severely traumatised and showing signs of school refusal. The force of the punch resulted in my son blacking out for a few seconds and he has subsequently developed significant bruising to the side of his face. In addition to the physical attacks, [REDACTED] has verbally threatened my son using offensive and hurtful language.

[REDACTED] has a history of aggressive behaviour and physical violence, which has spanned many years. Unfortunately, my son is not the only person [REDACTED] has harmed. Since the incident, many parents have come forward to share their child's experience of being bullied by [REDACTED].

We believe that the school has a duty of care to provide a positive and safe learning environment for students. The school is aware of past incidents involving other children and has indicated that they have implemented measures to address [REDACTED] behaviour. However, these have clearly not worked and in fact, [REDACTED] offending continues to escalate. We cannot keep doing the same and hoping for a different outcome. [REDACTED]'s behaviour has become increasingly aggressive and erratic and we are worried that it will only be a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt. It is clear that as long as [REDACTED] remains at school, my son and others impacted will never feel truly safe.

We have carefully examined the recently updated Department of Education Student Behaviour Policy and believe that there are adequate grounds for expulsion. [REDACTED] has engaged in repeated, serious behaviour that poses an ongoing threat to student safety and behavioural interventions have been implemented without success. This meets the criteria for expulsion.

We have had several meetings with the school and unfortunately, they have indicated that at this stage, the ongoing episodes of harm caused by [REDACTED] do not constitute 'exceptional circumstances' that would warrant expulsion. This is disappointing as we feel strongly that the school needs to do more to ensure the safety of all students.

If your child has been similarly impacted by [REDACTED], whether now or in the past, please sign the petition and share your story in the comments. Please provide details about what happened, whether you felt the actions (if any) taken by the school were adequate, and if your child still feels safe at school.

If you agree that stronger action needs to be taken against bullying (even if your child has not been personally impacted by [REDACTED]), please also sign this petition to show your support.

Together as parents, we can all share our experiences and provide the school with a more complete picture of the repeated and habitual bullying by [REDACTED]. This will hopefully send a strong and unified message to the school that stronger action including expulsion needs to be taken. Our children deserve to be safe at school and with your support, we sincerely hope that the school will be compelled to reconsider their current position and take the necessary actions to address this serious issue.

Thank you.