A Wishaw dad claims he had to remove his sons from a local primary school after they were “bullied for years”.
The concerned parent, who does not wish to be named, removed his children from the education facility after a series of alleged incidents at the school involving a group of boys.
And he says the issues were so traumatic that his eldest child began to self-harm and even contemplate suicide.
Speaking to Lanarkshire Live dad said: “My eldest son has autism and has had a really hard time.
“He has talked about suicide, stabbed himself with a pencil and was starving himself.
“A group of 11 boys subjected him to a homophobic attack. My son wouldn’t fight back, so he needs protection and he wasn’t getting it.
“He was then assaulted so badly that other parents had to intervene. He was left with numerous injuries.
“My eldest son is deeply traumatised and the younger ones were terrified.”
The dad says he catalogued a number of shocking incidents over several years which he claims pushed his children to the limit.
These, he told us, included a homophobic attack, one of his sons being choked, a pupil running to try and get to one of the boys at home time and one of his children receiving a head injury after being thrown down stairs.
One of the children required Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) intervention as a result of the bullying.
The dad, who is aiming to take his children out of the educational locality because of the alleged abuse, was also left angered by the attitude of teachers at the school and council officials.
He added: “There has been a catalogue of failures.
"People at CAMHS couldn’t believe some of the stories we were telling them.
“No-one seems capable of sorting this problem and that’s why we made the decision to take the boys out of school. I’ve told members of the cluster support team, who are supposed to be helping us, that the whole system is broken.
“My son who has autism has gone back to the stage where he was five years ago. That is how much damage this horrendous bullying has done to him.
“Teachers and the council don’t seem to be interested.”
A North Lanarkshire Council spokesman said the local authority had been doing everything they could to support the family over a long period of time.
“We have thoroughly investigated all complaints and put in place additional support where required,” the spokesman told us.
“Our schools have a clear vision to ensure all children are nurtured, supported and challenged to enable them to aspire to and achieve their full potential and we have a zero tolerance policy where bullying is concerned.
“Our schools work to foster an environment of respect, fairness, kindness and achievement.”
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