Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist)

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!