There have now been 22,899 hits.  4,376 pages have been viewed in 8 countries.

We were yesterday congratulated by a local ex-Steiner parent on providing an important social service for those overseas looking for a school in New Zealand for their children, who, otherwise, would not have the facts, leading to the possibility of their own children being hurt.

Of course we have been getting some other feedback, largely from parents at the school who are now feeling threatened by these truths being so visible.  This is predictable in a culture where a small group of teachers have absolute power and where dissent is dealt with in such a negative way.  People are scared.

We have been told by some parents that it ‘upsets’ their children to see us protesting outside the school.  These parents do not mention our own children, excluded by a school that claimed to us that exclusion is violence. This was, in fact, their stated reason for not separating our daughter from those that were doing her harm.

In trying to protect their own good things, these parents cannot step out of their denial.  Predictably, the vast majority of these parents are those of the boys in Class 3/4.  The fact that these parents feel attacked by this web-site is testament to the failure of the school to support all parents properly in these matters, holding instead to a position of secrecy and unaccountability.  We understand, we love the school too, and did not want to leave.

Tomorrow it will be three weeks since the children were expelled, and they cannot make any sense of it.  How are they to understand that those very adults who were so friendly towards them, have cast them aside without a second thought?  What has been demonstrated here?

In abuse, those who bring the abuse to other’s attention can easily ‘become the abuse’ in the eyes of all those who find it so uncomfortable.  This is a well documented phenomenon.  So it is here.  We are seen by some as ‘the bullying’ itself because we talked squarely about it.  The desire to have things continue as they are without paying attention to the damage that the school’s actions have done to our 8 year old (now 9), and our 5 year old, even forgetting our littlest one, who attended play-group, is a symptom of denial.  We urge parents to take responsibility for the truth, honesty and good name of the school they love and do the right thing, not just the most comfortable thing.

To help with this, we’d like to remind you that although the school’s structure and governance is reminiscent of several totalitarian regimes currently in the news, the simple reality is that we actually live in a democracy.  The school can only act this way if parents allow them to do so, and as democracy confers responsibility, you have a moral duty to stick up for children who have been unreasonably hurt by the school.

Suffrage has only been won through those who would take responsibility and it is only truly safe in their hands.  We can make no apology for pointing this out, even when it makes people so angry that they wish to ‘withdraw their support’, because we were not aware that they were giving us any anyway.

We hope that intelligent adults will understand that if they are not going to exercise that moral duty, then at least they cannot reasonably complain about the ensuing bad publicity.

Neither can any sane person claim that we are hurting their children simply by pointing out how ours have been hurt.  To claim any sort of ‘victimisation’ without acknowledging your own responsibility is not an adult position.  It is simple denial - that long, long river.

It includes outrage that we should have the temerity not to just shut up about it, as well as complacency that ones own children aren’t suffering in this way, therefore we’re merely an unwelcome noise.  Other classes at the school may not have these problems, and we know of many instances where bullying matters have bee resolved, but that is not the issue here.  The issue is that when such a really difficult situation arises, and this class is notorious, that the school has dealt with it like this, needlessly hurting the children they claim to care about and risking such ill-repute for the school.  The school’s actions have been destructive.  Nothing we do or say can change that, however comforting it would be to believe that it can.

We urge the community to face up to the reality of this situation and do the obvious right thing.  Insist collectively that the school deals with bullying in such a way as to keep the children safe as the first and urgent priority, whilst being as socially inclusive as possible given that necessity, and re-instate our children, who are entirely innocent.

We will publish any and every effort in this direction.

Overseas people and all who are now regularly viewing this site will then see a group of people mobilising to correct an obvious injustice, a hallmark of any true community, which will create brilliant publicity for the school.

Once this has been achieved, the Titirangi Steiner School will no longer need this ethical marketing assistance, and the site can come down, although then even that would not longer be necessary since it would be a beacon of light.