Sounds hard to believe, doesn't it? But, sadly, it is true:
Targeted because you aren’t MohammedanBy Bram Logger
UTRECHT - Expelled from school. Not because you are a bully, but because you are bullied. It happened to Cyril Teissier (9) on the Zuilen primary school ‘The Circle’.
“It’s really frustrating that we have this discrimination, for that’s what it is; we couldn’t stop it,’’ said internal school manager Annet van der Ree.
As the only white and Christian Dutch boy in class, Cyril in group 5 was bullied so much by his Moroccan classmates that school management thought it better to send him to a different school. The bullying kids kept on doing that: kicking, beating, intimidating, and excluding him from his classmates.
Cyril’s parents, Laurent and Laura Teissier, deliberately chose to send all their kids to the ‘black’ primary school “The Circle”. Cyril’s older sisters (now 15 and 19) went there. “Because of the warm atmosphere, and also because it is a minority school, which receives a lot of extra financial attention from the government. That’s why there is always something nice going on there. We never had any problems with our two older kids.”
Unfortunately, Cyril wasn’t that lucky. “It started in group 5. He had two friends. They started to beat him and bully him more and more often. And laugh, when he was in pain,” according to Laura. “When two new (Moroccan) boys joined the class, things went seriously wrong. They wanted to prove themselves and incited the others to bully Cyril even more.
“Often Cyril was beaten. The school soccer field was only for Moroccan boys; you cannot play there, they said to him. And if he wanted to play with the girls in class, he was called a faggot. His only friend in class, a Turkish boy, fell for peer pressure and joined the bullies. He wasn’t a Moroccan, but at least he was a Muslim. Thus, better than Cyril.”
After each incident the school sat around the table with the bullies. They promised not to do it again. But more often than not, the very next day they broke their promises.
(Pastorius note: Sound familiar? Sounds an awful lot like what happens when we try to negotiate with the Iranians and the Palestinians, doesn't it?)
In the end, Cyril couldn’t bear it any longer. He didn’t want to go to school any more. He remained in his bed, and asked to be sent to a different school. The school management thought this was the best solution too.
“Let Cyril go three more years to a nice school. This will only get worse,” said Van der Ree. “I told Cyril’s parents they should for once let idealism not interfere with the welfare of their child.
In the meantime, Cyril is now very happy in group 6 on the Montessori school in Oog in Al.
“Twenty minutes cycling, not really convenient,” said Laurent Teissier. “We really dislike that. We hoped so much all our kids would get a good start in a black school. That was a failure.”
This summer a community announcement fell on the doormat of the Teissier family. It told about what a great success the “mixed school The Circle” was. “A nice safe place for all children from the community,” it said.
That was just too much for Laurent and Laura Teissier. “The school and the politicians shouldn’t behave as if there are no problems. We have the impression that bullying and discrimination by Moroccan youths against the Dutch is growing in Zuilen. Something should be done about that.”
Well, it sounds like Cyril's parents have learned a little bit of a lesson, although that 20 minute bike ride sure is inconvenient. One lesson I'm learning is that selfish parenting isn't only found in America. Jesus, that poor Cyril. What a couple of parents he's saddled with.
Targeted because you aren’t MohammedanBy Bram Logger
UTRECHT - Expelled from school. Not because you are a bully, but because you are bullied. It happened to Cyril Teissier (9) on the Zuilen primary school ‘The Circle’.
“It’s really frustrating that we have this discrimination, for that’s what it is; we couldn’t stop it,’’ said internal school manager Annet van der Ree.
As the only white and Christian Dutch boy in class, Cyril in group 5 was bullied so much by his Moroccan classmates that school management thought it better to send him to a different school. The bullying kids kept on doing that: kicking, beating, intimidating, and excluding him from his classmates.
Cyril’s parents, Laurent and Laura Teissier, deliberately chose to send all their kids to the ‘black’ primary school “The Circle”. Cyril’s older sisters (now 15 and 19) went there. “Because of the warm atmosphere, and also because it is a minority school, which receives a lot of extra financial attention from the government. That’s why there is always something nice going on there. We never had any problems with our two older kids.”
Unfortunately, Cyril wasn’t that lucky. “It started in group 5. He had two friends. They started to beat him and bully him more and more often. And laugh, when he was in pain,” according to Laura. “When two new (Moroccan) boys joined the class, things went seriously wrong. They wanted to prove themselves and incited the others to bully Cyril even more.
“Often Cyril was beaten. The school soccer field was only for Moroccan boys; you cannot play there, they said to him. And if he wanted to play with the girls in class, he was called a faggot. His only friend in class, a Turkish boy, fell for peer pressure and joined the bullies. He wasn’t a Moroccan, but at least he was a Muslim. Thus, better than Cyril.”
After each incident the school sat around the table with the bullies. They promised not to do it again. But more often than not, the very next day they broke their promises.
(Pastorius note: Sound familiar? Sounds an awful lot like what happens when we try to negotiate with the Iranians and the Palestinians, doesn't it?)
In the end, Cyril couldn’t bear it any longer. He didn’t want to go to school any more. He remained in his bed, and asked to be sent to a different school. The school management thought this was the best solution too.
“Let Cyril go three more years to a nice school. This will only get worse,” said Van der Ree. “I told Cyril’s parents they should for once let idealism not interfere with the welfare of their child.
In the meantime, Cyril is now very happy in group 6 on the Montessori school in Oog in Al.
“Twenty minutes cycling, not really convenient,” said Laurent Teissier. “We really dislike that. We hoped so much all our kids would get a good start in a black school. That was a failure.”
This summer a community announcement fell on the doormat of the Teissier family. It told about what a great success the “mixed school The Circle” was. “A nice safe place for all children from the community,” it said.
That was just too much for Laurent and Laura Teissier. “The school and the politicians shouldn’t behave as if there are no problems. We have the impression that bullying and discrimination by Moroccan youths against the Dutch is growing in Zuilen. Something should be done about that.”
Well, it sounds like Cyril's parents have learned a little bit of a lesson, although that 20 minute bike ride sure is inconvenient. One lesson I'm learning is that selfish parenting isn't only found in America. Jesus, that poor Cyril. What a couple of parents he's saddled with.
5 comments:
Well said Pastorius, I get a feeling more and more liberally minded people will get rude awakenings of this kind - and the Dutch are right in the eye of the storm, there will be a reaction to this kind of thing very soon.
Hugh,
I'm glad to hear you think there will be a reaction. I hope you are right about that.
Another jaw-dropper!
This boy will bear the psychological scars for life. You can count on that.
He may grow up to be our generation's version of Vlad the Impaler.
Big Dog,
I checked out your website. Very cool.
Isn't "the Big Dog" Shaquille O'Neal's nickname? Are you willing to go toe to toe with that guy over what the Big Dog can and can't do?
:)
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