See there you go again Country Gal. Yes my children do qualify for Mensa. What you say is very disrespectful to mothers!

What happened to my children is systematic bias, bullying, victimization, vilification, discrimination, educational neglect and obstruction of justice that resulted in serious psychological harm that caused physical problems for my children and that resulted in my children having to receive medical and psychological care. That you constantly want to play down the situation says a lot.

The comparison with the Heiner affair and my families matter is in the handling of the complaints/allegations. Can’t you see that!

You don’t seem to understand that documents were formally requested to be set aside under the FOI Act. The FOI application was being put before the Administrative Decisions Tribunal because the Department didn’t want to give us access. They destroyed the documents whilst they were part of an FOI application being put to the Court for access. It doesn’t matter about when they destroy test sheets. These documents had already been requested well before any time limit arose.

If all you are concerned about is that my children will think that nothing is their fault then you shouldn’t worry – they will make good public servants.

You obviously do not realize that there is a lot to this story. Maybe one day you should have a little look at my blog.

Education – Keeping them Honest
http://jolandachallita.typepad.com/education/

Jolanda,

Country Gal appears to have a point. The melodramatic energy you put into describing what has happenned to your kids is unreal. I really hope you don't put a tenth as much energy into telling them the 'stystem' is against them.

Here, it is again: "What happened to my children is systematic bias, bullying, victimization, vilification, discrimination, educational neglect and obstruction of justice that resulted in serious psychological harm that caused physical problems for my children and that resulted in my children having to receive medical and psychological care."

How on earth did it get to the point your children are receiving medical and psychological care over a few test scores?

I have looked at your blog and it gave me a little more insight into your predicament. Yes is frustrating when trying to obtain documents from public authorities like the Department of Education, however the mere fact they destroyed documents after you had made a freedom of information request does not establish that the department was involved in some sinister cover up. Morevoer the electronic records were make available to you but you say "my children and I were bullied and harassed until we left in tears unable to check the tests." Who precisely bullied and harrassed you and what PRECISELY did they say/do to make you feel bulied?

You said that before your own barrister was shouting at you. Precisely what did he shout at you and why? In my experience with barrister's they don't shout at their own clients unless extremely provoked. What exactly did you do that might have provoked him?

Jolanda, I am not playing down the situation at all. I have read your blog in depth (some months ago), and have also read the FOI Act, though admit to skimming over the sections that didnt seem relevant. My belief is that there is a difference bewteen Court requested documents, and documents requested by individuals under FOI (note that this belief is not based on my opinion as to whether or not this is fair, but my interpretation of the law). To destroy documents once requested by the Court, is a serious offence (ask Arthur Andersen what the impact of late night shredding is). To destroy documents requested by an individual under FOI doesnt appear to attract similar penalties. At least, not that I have been able to determine. In case you have missed it, I have actually been trying to help you find the information that you are after.

Kalin summed my concerns up well. The melodramatic attitude that you take to this is what I am concerned is doing as much damage to your children as any missed opportunity.

My reference to Mensa membership lay in the assumption that this gives you better proof of your kids abilities, both should you pursue any further court action AND give you fodder to help you put this in perspective for your kids. Its a well-known fact that parents (not just mothers) see their kids through rose-coloured glasses. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing (I'm a mother myself and can understand), but that sometimes you need to take a step back and re-evaulate as independently as you can.

Kalin1. I can’t believe that the act of manipulating students test scores/documents, in order to discredit them and deny them education and opportunities and do them harm, can be something that you accept so readily as a part of life!

I don’t need to tell my children the system is against them - THEY TELL ME!. Victimisation/bullying has a serious impact on children, made worse when adults serve it.
http://www.stopbullyingnow.com/teachers%20who%20bully%20students%20McEvoy.pdf
http://www.bullyonline.org/schoolbully/cases.htm

At the DET viewing of the tests, at first when we just wrote down the marks there was silence. As soon as we started checking to see if the answers corresponded with the question they started on us. There were a lot of tests. They kept interrupting us; they kept disturbing us and we became upset because we couldn’t concentrate. They didn’t give us the actual correct answers to the questions (they were supposed to) so we had to try to work out the answers first - they wouldn’t stop interrupting us with issues that should never have been brought up in front of the children. I begged them to stop. I told them that the children were present and that they were upsetting the children. They didn’t listen. They were even banging papers on the desk. They were directing things to my children. My children felt intimidated and scared. My daughter and I left in tears. My son said it was obvious that the meeting was sabotaged.

Yes my Barrister screamed at me. I asked him to ensure he asked certain questions about certain things and he started screaming at me. My husband was there, I asked politely. I was the morning of the hearing. I thought he was on my side; it was obvious that he was not. What he did was wrong, he was trying to intimidate me so that I would withdraw and shut up.

Why is it so easy for people to believe that I am being unreasonable and not to believe that I am just exercising my rights and I am being respectful and it is the bullies who are the problem?

Country Gal. I cant say that I find your posts helpful. Your constant insistance that I am somehow to blame for what is being done to my kids and how they are affected by it is wearing me thin.

I can't help but wonder who you are to judge whether a parent is seeing their child through rose coloured glasses - or not?

Jolanda,

Bureaucracies are never fun to deal with when your circumstances fall outside the norm. By their nature they are rules driven, impersonal, and insufficiently flexible to deal with matters on the case by case basis human being often require.

Nevertheless, it is almost impossible for such organisations to act with the malice you attribute to the DET. Certainly, you may be up against some nasty peice of work within the DET, but the whole organisation is not out to get you or your kids. Constantly criticising and blaming the whole organisation won't help your cause, rather you need to figure out who in particular is 'out to get you and your children' and then try to avoid them like the plague.

Whilst I do sympathise with your frustration, I do not think you are handling this issue wisely. You may well be in the right, but standing on your rights at all costs is just foolish. Indeed it reminded me of story from when I was young:

"Here lies the grave of John O’Shea
Who died maintaining his right of way,
His right was clear, his will was strong,
But he’s just as dead as if he were wrong."

There are definitely times, even when you are in the right, that you should walk away from a dispute, or find away around the obstacle instead of trying to go through it. I would venture to say that in the history of human relations, telling people they are wrong and demanding they change their decision has probably been the least successful approach to changing people's decisions.