Bad Girls Read online

  Kim made vomit noises. Miss Moseley raised her eyebrows but she didn’t bother to get cross. She didn’t seem to think Kim was particularly important.

  We had one brand new subject in Year Six. It was down on our timetable for Friday afternoon. It was called Circle Time. We weren’t quite sure what it was.

  ‘Maybe we’ll draw circles with protractors,’ said Arthur, getting his protractor out of his pencil case.

  ‘What, to make patterns? I like doing that,’ I said. ‘And then we can colour them in.’

  But we didn’t draw circles in Circle Time. We made the circle ourselves, pushing the tables back and sitting round on our chairs. Miss Moseley sat in the circle too. Kim could sit in between Melanie and Sarah again. She barged between them. Arthur and I sat next to each other of course.

  ‘Circle Time is going to be our special time, when we sit round together as a class and talk about all sorts of different things,’ said Miss Moseley.

  ‘Oooh, she’s going to tell us about sex,’ said Kim, and everyone giggled.

  Miss Moseley laughed too.

  ‘Not today, folks. So you can all simmer down. Circle Time is when we discuss various issues.’

  ‘What’s an issue, Miss Moseley?’

  ‘Issue! Issue!’ said Kim, pretending to sneeze.

  ‘An issue is something currently on our minds. Something we want to talk about . . .’

  ‘Like Neighbours?’

  ‘No, not exactly. But all sorts of issues are dealt with in Neighbours. Anyway. Today in Circle Time I thought we’d talk about bullying,’ said Miss Moseley.

  There was a sudden silence. Everyone looked at Kim. Her cheeks went pink with the Dutch doll spots. People were looking at Melanie and Sarah too. And me. I started to feel sick. I didn’t want to talk about it. And if Kim and Melanie and Sarah got told off they’d think I’d been telling tales on them. I stared at Miss Moseley. She was going to make it worse.

  But Miss Moseley smiled at me, smiled at everyone, calm and composed, her fair hair standing out around her face like a golden halo. She took out a newspaper and read to us about a boy who had been beaten up by three other boys at his school. She showed us the photo of his poor bruised face. We all agreed that this was awful. Then she read to us about a girl who kept getting punched and kicked until she was so scared of going to school that she hanged herself. We discussed this too. Miss Moseley asked us to think how the boy and girl must have felt. It started to get really sad and scary.

  ‘I don’t want to think about that girl hanging herself. It’ll give me nightmares,’ said Melanie.

  ‘I know it’s very uncomfortable thinking about it. But you’re all getting older and much more sensible now you’re in Year Six. You’re ready to discuss very painful grown-up topics. Now, what do you all think we should do about bullies like this?’

  ‘They should get beaten up, too.’

  ‘They should get locked up.’

  ‘No-one should ever talk to them ever again.’

  People’s suggestions started to get fiercer and fiercer.

  ‘This isn’t always possible, or indeed practical,’ said Miss Moseley. ‘And I think we have to try to work out why people bully. Then we can maybe stop it before it gets too much of a habit. So. Why do you think people bully?’

  ‘Because they’re big and they want to hurt.’

  ‘Because they’re nasty.’

  ‘Because they like getting people scared.’

  ‘Yes. These are all sensible suggestions. But try to think a bit deeper. Are bullies happy people?’ Miss Moseley asked.

  ‘They’re happy when they hurt.’

  ‘Yes, I suppose so. But think about it. Think about when you’re very very happy. Say it’s your birthday and all your family and friends have given you a big hug and some lovely presents and you feel really great. Now. Do you want to hurt anyone when you’re in that sort of situation?’

  We thought – and shook our heads.

  ‘Of course not. You just want to be nice to people. But suppose you’ve had a really bad day and got into trouble at school and your friend’s gone off with someone else and your mum and dad are cross and they’ve given your little sister a treat and yet they just tell you off . . . Do you want to be nice to people now? Or do you feel like being nasty?’

  ‘Nasty!’ we said.

  ‘Of course you do. So if your little sister comes and starts showing off, you maybe give her a little push, or tell her she’s stupid, right?’

  Most people nodded, laughing.

  ‘But that’s not real bullying. I mean, I can’t stick my sister, but I wouldn’t kick her head in or make her kill herself.’

  People laughed more, but Miss Moseley was looking serious.

  ‘That’s exactly it, though. Bullying isn’t always terribly dramatic and dreadful, with people seriously hurt or even dying. We’re all very thankful nothing like that happens in our school. But I’m sure we can all think of various occasions when a group of us have picked on another one?’

  No-one was laughing now. My tummy went tight again.

  ‘One person gets picked on, and it starts to be a habit. And others join in. Because everyone wants to side with the bully so that they don’t get picked on.’

  ‘Sometimes they ask for it. Because they’re stupid,’ someone muttered. It could have been Kim.

  Miss Moseley had very sharp ears under her fluffy hair.

  ‘No-one ever asks to be bullied,’ she said. ‘But you’re right, sometimes people get bullied because they’re stupid. Though that’s not a very kind word. People can’t help it if they’re not very bright. And that’s a terrible reason for bullying someone, just because they’re not clever.’

  ‘And other times someone can get bullied because they’re ever so clever,’ Arthur said suddenly. ‘Say they come top of the class and the bully doesn’t like it because they’re clever too and they want to be top.’

  Miss Moseley nodded.

  ‘That’s very shrewd of you, Arthur.’

  Some of the others were whispering and nudging each other. I heard the word Kim several times. And Mandy.

  ‘We won’t mention any names,’ said Miss Moseley. ‘Remember, this is a general discussion.’

  Melanie and Sarah were fidgeting. Kim’s cheeks were strawberry pink.

  ‘If someone is being bullied you should always tell,’ said Miss Moseley, her eyes swivelling round the whole circle. ‘Tell your mum and dad. Tell your teacher. Tell another teacher if things still don’t get sorted out. The person who is getting bullied needs help. And the person doing the bullying needs help too, because they’re sad, sick, silly people. We should feel sorry for them, even though they hurt and do a lot of harm. Even name-calling and silly teasing can be horribly upsetting, can’t it?’ She looked round the circle again. ‘You know what I mean. Pulling silly faces and going chitter-chatter, like a lot of monkeys at the zoo. Bullies are like baboons, those big monkeys with weird faces and bright red bottoms.’

  Everyone burst out laughing hearing Miss Moseley say the word bottom.

  ‘The biggest baboon screams a lot and bites all the little ones. All the other big baboons copy, screeching and scratching for fleas. Now, no-one here in my class wants to act like a bully baboon with a bright red bottom, do they?’

  Everyone shook their heads – even Melanie and Sarah. Kim’s head was bent.

  She kept right out of my way after that. She didn’t ever wait to get me after school again. She’d have been by herself anyway. Melanie and Sarah didn’t want to be her friend any more. They went round just the two of them instead.

  Melanie asked if I wanted to make friends again. I said OK but I couldn’t be her best friend. I had Arthur now anyway. We stayed sitting together in school and we played together in the dinner break and we always walked home together as far as the bus stop. Mum still came to meet me most days, but I didn’t mind now that no-one teased me about it.

  I still couldn’t help hoping that