Schooling Issues

Suspension/Standowns/Excluded/Expelled
Any of these seem familiar? Know your rights.
Bullying

Uh oh! Sometimes life isn’t all peachy at school….when life is more dramas than study…..hope this helps.

In terms of the law……… this site pretty much rocks it out…

youthlaw.co.nz has stuff like

Searches at school
Mobile phones at school
Got kicked out?
What can I wear at school?

Suspension/Standowns/Excluded/Expelled

Jeepers! This is a stressful time for you. But take control and be in the know…

What does it mean when I’ve been suspended?

Basically it means you have to appear before the Board of Trustees at school, who will:

lift the suspension without conditions; or

lift the suspension with conditions; or

extend the suspension with conditions; or

exclude or expel you.

Pretty stressful so that’s why it is so important to get some help NOW. Do not wait until after the meeting with the board – it will be too late!
Board of Trustees meeting are scary and you deserve to be supported through this.
There are specific laws relating to how the board should run these meetings – it’s best to get someone in the know.

COMMUNITY LAW CANTERBURY

What: Specialised youth service, with solicitors and people who represent you, on heaps of issues like suspension, school rules………

Who: Lara, she’s real easy to talk to.

Where: 281 Madras St, Christchurch – or they can come to you and they visit Kaiapoi Community Support fortnightly – for appointments ring Community Law Canterbury direct.

Cost: FREEBIE

How: So phone (03) 3666 870 and just wait to speak to the receptionist and ask to speak to Lara.

Family Support Agency

What: provide support and advocacy, run courses and help out with lots of stuff

Who : whoever answers the phone!

Ph: 03 313 3377 0800 101 871

Where: Rooms at Rangiora War Memorial Hall, corner of High and Albert streets

Cost: free

R13 Trust

So you have been stood down from secondary school or excluded or having issues at school? Why don’t you give R13 Trust a bell? They put together a programme which can include, practical skills training, work experience, adventure based learning, and other school stuff. Mint! To chat about things further call Kath on (03) 327 8861.

Any of these seem familiar? Know your rights.

“The school made me take out my piercing!”

“I don’t want to wear their naff uniform – but I’m sick of getting detentions – what can I do?”

“My phone got taken off me – are they allowed to do this?”

“I am so over school, can I leave?”

“It’s not fair, a teacher has it in for me.”

“I got grilled by the principal about something – it wasn’t fair.”

“Are they allowed to search my bag?”

Instead of going nuts at the teachers and your mates how about trying something different to see if it works?

Get the information you need to see if you are right. Simple!

The best site around for answering all these questions is youthlaw.co.nz. It’s totally onto it and you can ask questions etc. Remember it’s really important to know your rights.

If you need support when you are being grilled or just have a real time of it at school get hold of a youth worker pronto! Their job is to help you out and be there for you.

Bullying

Well when this is happening to you or someone you know it pretty much bites. You can feel totally alone and pretty low especially if they are cyber attacking you or texting ya at all hours.

police.govt.nz 0800 NO BULLY (0800 66 28 55)

0800 NO BULLY is a 24-hour information line giving helpful advice about taking action to stop bullying.

youthlaw.co.nz

1. Tell a teacher?

Well, the truth is you probably aren’t going to tell a teacher at school. But if you can find someone who’s pretty ok, then chat to them about it. If you are afraid they are going to blab to everyone ask them for their confidentiality policy. If ya don’t like it, skip them. Remember teachers are trained on how to deal with bullying so give them a shot.

2. Talk to your parents or an older person you trust.

Yeah, also hard, cause you are afraid they call the school etc. But look – parents want to look after you and make sure that you are happy, and if you can all sit down and let it all out – then at least you know that your parents will know why school completely bites for you at the moment. And hey, it doesn’t have to be your parents, just someone you reckon is pretty rad.

So you’ve told someone – but what about dealing with the actual problem?

3. There are some local people that you can chat to:

Youthworkers and Counsellors
Rangiora Youth Aid – Simon – he works with the police and he is really good at chatting with youth and parents about bullying issues – give him a go! (03) 313 9713
Kaiapoi Youth Aid – Janelle on (03) 327 9867

Then there are some national anonymous help lines you can latch onto such as:

Youthline - 0800 376 6633
Kidsline - 0800 5437 5463

Remember giving something a go has got to be better than doing nothing. Truly.