British Mom Puts Son’s Alleged Bullies on Blast in Viral Facebook Post

A mother of seven became so fed up with the alleged constant bullying of her son that she took her grievances to Facebook. Now hundreds of online supporters are rallying around her.

According to Julie Maynard, she had had enough of seeing her son (whose name has been kept private) come home with injuries from his classmates. She claims that her son has been repeatedly targeted for his weight.

She said that he had been “put into the center of a circle of bullies who said ‘Who’s going to punch the fat **** first?'”

The mom says the final straw came recently, when the boy was brutally attacked coming home from school.

“Last Monday he was targeted on the way home from school. He was strangled and pushed over. His injuries were minimal, just a slight cut and a graze which the staff in Iceland cleaned up and dressed for him. I am keeping him home for a few days as the college were made aware of this incident and on arrival at college yesterday he was thumped in the left ear by the same boys.”

Following that incident, Maynard wrote an angry Facebook post that read in part:

“My 12-year-old son was strangled and hurt again on the way home from college – all because he is slightly larger than the average 12-year-old. He went to college (the next morning) and was punched on arrival. I told him to come home and will be keeping him home until the issue is resolved. BULLIES ARE COWARDS!”

The post, and subsequent photos Maynard shared of her son’s injuries, quickly accumulated over 200 likes, with many parents commenting on the bullying their own children face. Inspired by the outpouring of support, Maynard launched a Facebook group called Bodmin and Community Anti Bullying Campaign to allow others to share their stories. As of Thursday, the group has over 230 members, with many sharing tales of how they were bullied during adolescence.

As for Maynard’s specific situation, she reportedly has been in contact with the school and local authorities, which each trying to pass the buck to the other.

“I have been in touch with the college and the police on many occasions,” she said. “As this happens both in college and while the children are walking home from college, there seems to be a lot of passing the blame. Bodmin College say it’s the police’s responsibility and the police say it is the responsibility of Bodmin College.”

The school’s principal responded to queries about the situation saying that the institution had numerous anti-bullying measures in place. He went on to say that said measure are “…delivered by a dedicated pastoral team, a caring and supportive staff ethos and anti-bullying curriculum content.”