Susanne Gervay – I am Jack
Writing about bullying I found very difficult. Although I didn’t feel as though I fitted in at school I wasn’t bullied. My brother tells me that he was but has yet to tell me the way which he dealt with it. It has become a huge problem however, for many children (1 in 4) with more than a few suicides as a result.
Australian author, Susanne Gervay, does it very well. She writes of her book “Jack didn’t understand how he ended up targeted, isolated, bullied, until it wasn’t funny anymore. He was afraid, powerless, victimised. When the parent of Anna, Jack’s friend rang to tell Susanne that her son was in deep trouble, she could hardly breathe with the pain of it.
It was a hard journey to win against bullying, but Jack did because the secrecy was broken, because his mother stood beside him, his family, his friends, his teacher and school were there. His mates came back and he found himself again and Jack fought for who he was.”
She has also written a one man play which can be watched below.
“I’m sick. I can’t go to school.”
“You have to Charles. This is the third time this week.”
“No. I’ve got a tummy ache.”
“Okay.” They heard him banging on the drums as they left.
“He’s behind with his school work, he doesn’t mix”
“He’s being bullied.”
” Leave it with me.”
“I’ve heard Imagine Dragons will be at assembly today.” The words and excitement buzzed around the playground and the hall filled quicker than normal.
” Charles Smith please come up and help Andrew out.” said Dan Reynolds.
A hush settled. Charles smiled. The children smiled back, at their hero.
Why this band? Dragons have had a fairly large impact on my life in the last couple of weeks (see here) so when looking up teenage bands where it features with the 12th song in top of the hits with Demon I had no choice but to choose this band.
In response to Charlie’s 99 word flash fiction prompt:
March 11, 2015 prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story that shows the bully mentality countered with a different, unexpected or kind action. Bullies can be known or incognito; Goliaths or small-minded; in-person or online. Think of ways to unplug a bully’s power. Show characters with strength and dignity and even humor.
Respond by March 17, 2015 to be included in the weekly compilation.Rules are here. All writers are welcome!
Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist) 
This was great Irene. We need to pay more attention to childhood bullying. It can carry on into adulthood. I have a post ready for tomorrow on the subject.
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Thanks Kayti. Yes it is a real problem. Look forward to your post. Lots of voices with different perspectives will do its bit to overcome this problem
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Great job, Irene. Bullying has always been around – I remember standing up to a bully when I was in fifth grade. But it wasn’t too hard because I was the tallest kid in the class. Of course now we have cyber-bullying, which is awful because it’s anonymous.
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Did the bully turn and run. Cyber bullying is a problem but why can’t people just block those people and not see it?
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It is getting a lot of well deserved attention. Bullying is unacceptable, full stop.
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Totally agree Gerard.
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What a great way to end bulling. Make him a hero. If only all parents could be so creative.
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Thanks. I think the first thing to stop bullying is to end the secrecy of it. There must be many creative ways to put an end to it.
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I agree.
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A wonderful topic, no doubt about it. But not your best effort, because you so abbreviated the ending. Do better again next time ! B+
[grin]
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Red pen duly noted. After going to the corner and sobbing for an hour or two I’ll do better next time. [grin]
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You are a most positive person, and someone I know will never be offended by my mild nay-sayings. X !
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No I’m not offended. I actually agreed with you. 99 words was just impossible to do better with but the gist was got methinks. 🙂
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It was indeed. Just that mad rush to get it done in too few words at the end. 😀
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It’s great to see creative ways of addressing social issues.
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Yes there must be many, many ways. Removing the secrecy is the most important I think.
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Irene, this inspired me to buy the book for my grandson Jack, thank you! 🙂
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They are great books Barbara. Although I haven’t read it all I looked at it at a writer’s festival she spoke at and I thought it looked great. All the Jack books deal with different issues kids face written in a way they understand. Hope your grandson enjoys it and gets a benefit from it if ever he needs it.
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This is a hard subject for me, and you handled it beautifully Irene. Your flash melted my heart and what a wonderful book, dealing with the pain of bullying from both the mother and the child, which gives hope that happy endings to the hell of bullying are possible. Perfect song…and very timely with the dragon theme…
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You bring up a good point which seems obvious, but just hit me — secrecy. In a way, it feels like “everyone knows” because it feels so public. Bullying at school often happens among peers. And that’s when it occurred to me that peers behave just like an incestuous family. That sounds harsh, but the dynamics of power and control, denial and suffering silently are the same! And yes, breaking the silence breaks the cycle. Yet triggers and shame need to be dealt with in ensuing years. But getting to be a hero for a moment can ease the suffering. That you selected the teen band because of dragons makes me laugh! You have such a subtle sense of humor. “Impact of dragons” leads one to think you read a great fantasy novel or commissioned a statue for your garden — not that you nearly had your eyes scoured out of your head by a fire breathing beach dragon! This is a great, uplifting post. If you don’t already have something planned for 3/20 #1000Speak, you should repost this and link on their bloghop.
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Thanks Charli – even more so as I really struggled with this one. Not so much the topic but fitting such a subject into the 99 word limit. Secrecy I think is the key. Once the secret is out it becomes much more difficult for the bully to maintain a hold on his victim. But you are right – usually the victim is too frightened to say anything.
If I don’t manage another one I will definitely put this forward.
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Great flash, Irene. I’m pleased Charles had something good in his life. I see you heard Suzanne Gervay speak at a writers’ festival. I wonder, do you belong to SCBWI? Suzanne is the Regional Advisor for Australia and New Zealand. She is speaking at an afternoon tea meeting in May in the hinterland of the other (to you) coast. The performance of the play “I am Jack” is on at the Gold Coast Arts Centre in May. Let me know if you’d like any more details (if you don’t already have them) and I can let you know. Suzanne is a pretty inspiring and impressive speaker, isn’t she?
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Thanks for that info Norah. No I don’t belong to that group. It is a pity my nephews are coming in April as I’d love to take them to the play. She certainly is an inspirational speaker but I doubt I’ll make it down at that time as I have reached a fairly full on work schedule to have my thesis finished by August and I’m feeling a bit snowed under.
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Best wishes for completing your thesis. How exciting to see the end so close. I can understand the “panic’ to ensure everything is completed. Choices must be made. I’m not sure if I’ll go to the play, but I’m hoping to get to the meeting. I’ll let you know about it if I do. 🙂
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Thanks on both counts. 🙂
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