Two days later, after having to endure a lecture about horseplay on the bleachers from the school nurse when she addressed Sean’s cut lip, his explanation of being pushed falling on her deaf ears, he was summoned to Mrs. Hinton’s room. He had suspicions as to why his English teacher wanted to see him and he knew it wasn’t about his English work. Ever since the shooting, Mrs. Hinton headed the school’s anti-bullying programme. It was believed that ever since the shooting, she felt responsible because Mark Leversee had been her pupil and that she felt she should have done more to address the bullying he had been subjected to. For Sean, that could be the only reason why she wanted to see him.
He felt angry about it. Jeremy or someone fron the anti-bullying group must have seen one of the attacks from Eddie and his crew and reported it to the teacher. Fears of futher retaliation flooded his mind as he walked into the classroom. Following Mrs. Hinton’s beckon to sit down, his fears were confirned at the site of the other pupils in the room, all known members of the anti-bullying group. Their stares made Sean feel even more uncomfortable.
“It’s been brought to my attention that you are being bullied,” Mrs. Hinton began.
Sean looked at the teacher and shrugged lethargically. Even though she was a few years from retirement, she still taught with the zeal of a newly qualified teacher and she put that same zeal into her anti-bullying group. She might have been barely five feet tall but her commanding presence mde her appear gigantic. Still, Sean didn’t want to admit the truth.
“No, I’m not getting bullied,” he denied. “Who told you that?”
“I did,” rang out a voice from the back of the room.
Sean turned toward the speaker who turned out to be an eighth grader named Darren Kirby. Sean’s questioning look was met by Darren’s determined stare. “I saw Eddie Greenblatt, John Miller and a few others bullying you and Jeremy Crabtree while you were playing cards on the bleachers the other day. You seemed to be the one they were targeting more. They threw your cards in the air and Tim Pizano tripped you when you went to pick them up. I’ve seen Eddie Greenblatt go to punch you in the hall and Tim Pizano trip you. So yes, I’d say you’re getting bullied.”
Sean looked at Mrs. Hinton who looked back at him with a caring smile. “Okay, maybe those boys are bullying me a little bit but I don’t see what you can do about it. I’ve heard the stories of how bullies or their friends infiltrate this group and report it back to their friends and then they make the victim’s life even more hell. I don’t want that to happen to me.”
Retaining her smile, Mrs. Hinton returned, “That might have been the case a few years back but this doesn’t happen anymore. We make sure that children are genuninely being bullied before they come here. All five of these students here all have been victims of bullying and there are several more who are not here right now. The aim of this group is to support each other. We stick together at school because there is strength in mumbers and if you stick with us, you’ll be safe.”
“That might be okay in school but what about after school?” Sean inquired.
If anyone bullies you outside of school, then you can always involve the police,” came the teacher’s stern reply.
Seeing he wasn’t going to sway Mrs. Hinton nore her group, Sean reluctantly agreed to join them. Every day at lunch and before school, he and Jeremy hung around with the anti-bullying group and he had to admit, that he did feel safer. Even comments from Eddie, John and Tim about being part of the ‘Pussy Patrol’ didn’t seem to phase him and at least the physical stuff had stopped.