Stories
An area for community stories. If you have any that you would like considered forward them to info@mhd2009.org
Bullying - a heart breaking reality for deaf and hard of hearing kids
Most parents of deaf and hard of hearing children want their children to attend mainstream schools where they can ‘integrate’ more into ‘normal’ society. Sounds good in theory, but the result is that there are now more than 83% of deaf and hard of hearing children attending mainstream school, where they find themselves the only deaf child in their class or even their entire school.
Studies show that ‘not fitting in’ is the most common reason students give for being bullied by their peers. Students who are physically different or who are regarded as not doing as well as everyone else in the class often become the target for bullies.
Hearing aids or cochlear implants already set a deaf student apart from their hearing mates. Then there’s the sign language that they may use and/or their speech which makes them sound different. Bullying is a mojor contributor to poor self image and can put a young person further at risk of suffering mental
This set of stories is to do with bullying:
Tom’s story
Melissa’s story
Josh’s story
Tara's story
Tanya’s story
Skye’s story
Being considered ‘different’ is often the price deaf and hard of hearing kids pay for being in a mainstream school
A deaf or hard of hearing student has enough to contend with trying to keep up with what is going on at school, let alone having to worry about being intimidated by bullies. Most do not receive adequate specialist support in regular classrooms and get left behind their hearing peers, which makes them even more of a target for bullies.
Feeling isolated because of communication difficulties is a common experience for deaf and hard of hearing kids. Even with cochlear implants or hearing aids, deaf students find it difficult to hear in a large, noisy classroom or schoolyard where the background noise is high. As a result, they often get left out of conversations and activities. And of course, being alone makes them more vulnerable to attacks.
The impact of bullying
on deaf kids
Some of the more resilient deaf students who are subjected to bullying are quick to recover and remain relatively unaffected by it. However, for others these incidences can produce permanent physical, emotional and psychological damage including:
- anxiety
- depression
- isolation
- disruptive behaviour
- cuts and bruises
- social withdrawal
- deterioration of school work and academic failure
- increased likelihood of dropping out of school
- increased risk of suicide