Two years ago Blade Hancock was the victim of a serious bullying incident.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The then 12-year-old was on his way home from school on February 28, 2018 when he saw an older boy who he didn't know and said hello.
The other boy picked up Blade by his school bag, hung him on a tree and ran off.
Blade's bag ripped, he fell to the ground and ran home where he told his parents about the incident.
Blade and his mum Tammie are raising awareness about the harm bullying can cause in light of the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence on Friday, March 20.
While Blade has now managed to push the incident out of his memory, at the time the bullying had an impact on his mental health and education at school.
For a time, Blade felt worried and unsafe as he thought the boy would target him again.
He only completed one term at Wauchope High School in Year 7 after the incident and finished the rest of the year at Westport Tutorial Centre.
Tammie said it was the best decision for Blade, who had started misbehaving, which she believes was a defense mechanism in light of the bullying incident.
In Year 8 Blade was reintegrated back into Wauchope High School and he's since made friends with a number of supportive students.
Tammie credited the support of a number of school staff and the service of headspace, as being vital to helping Blade move on from the bullying incident.
Tammie herself has been bullied and she herself has been a bully in the past.
"I've not been nice to others purely because my friends weren't," she said.
"If you didn't conform (to the behaviour) than the thought was that you would get bullied yourself."
Bullying is not only happening in schools but is prevalent in the wider community and in the workplace.
In the workplace, Tammie referred to a 'he said, she said' scenario which can result in untrue information being spread about a person.
With her four-year-old about to start schooling, Tammie is preparing herself again for the cycle which her oldest son and herself have been impacted by.
Tammie would like to see wider consultation in the community, with parents not only children, regarding how they can address bullying issues and also make them aware of services available for seeking help.
An awareness campaign was recently launched by not-for-profit organisations Stride and KidsXpress.
Their data shoes shows one in seven children are now exposed to toxic levels of stress and 53 per cent of Australian children now exhibit psychological distress.
The organisations say it is critical there is much more support for children across New South Wales who have mental health issues - and they say it is vital families reach out to get support.
For more information, or to seek support please visit https://headspace.org.au/young-people/what-is-bullying-and-the-effects-on-mental-health/