were you bullied at school

If so you could get big compensation....come to think of it I can remember a few bigger boys pushing me around a bit...hmm might need a good lawyer...


The mother of a teenager who has been awarded a lifetime of wages ( possibly a million dollars) and $213,000 because he was bullied as a six-year-old says the lawsuit was never about the money.

The Supreme Court has awarded the compensation to 18 year-old Ben Cox because it found the state of New South Wales breached its duty of care to him while he was at a primary school in the Hunter Valley.

Mr Cox was harassed and assaulted by an older student at Woodberry Public School 13 years ago.

On one occasion, the student tried to strangle him and Mr Cox fell to the ground unconscious.

He now suffers from a severe psychiatric condition and is unemployable.

The judge said Mr Cox's mother repeatedly reported the abuse but the school's response was dismally inadequate.

His mother, Angela Cox, says her complaints were virtually ignored by the school and when she called on the Education Department for help, it did not get any better.

"After getting nowhere with the school, with the teachers and the principal doing nothing, I took it upon myself to ring the Department of Education," she said.

"They just told me that bullying builds character and it was good for Ben to be bullied."

Ms Cox says the Education Department fought her every inch of the way right up until the court case and it is now more aware of the serious implications of bullying.

"The money's not the issue. It was just more or less proving that these things did happen," she said.

"It should never happen to any child."

Justice Carolyn Simpson said the school's staff made no attempt to deal with a serious problem and grossly failed in their duty to Mr Cox.

Justice Simpson said his adolescence had been all but destroyed.

She said he would never know the satisfaction of employment and would almost certainly suffer anxiety and depression for the rest of his life.

Mr Cox's barrister, Dennis Wheelahan, QC, says other bullying victims can expect to recover substantial damages.

"The implications are that pupils in our school systems who are the subject of this type of conduct, provided that is established to the requisite degree, can expect to recover substantial damages, as is the case in young Ben Cox's matter," he said.

A spokesman from the NSW Education Department says it is looking at the judgement and considering its options.

Dave R.